


The Gift

by bec2224



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-21
Updated: 2015-08-21
Packaged: 2018-04-16 09:08:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 62,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4619682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bec2224/pseuds/bec2224
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An old flame of Spike's returns to help Angel, with some very interesting developments.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Gift

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon and the WB own all rights. And get to reap all the benefits, lucky stiffs. p>I'd like to thank Margot Le Faye for being my muse, my editor and sister of the heart, I could not have done this with out her. I'd like to thank CharlieX and Laurence for all their help, I'm not a writer I just play one on the board. *g* And for Cleio telling me "I'm not reading it till it's done", she gave me a reason to finish it. *g* And a huge heart felt thank you going out to Arcadia, she's the reason your reading this. If not for her it would be laying on my computer desk cause I'm so not the net-girl,*g*
> 
> The ideal for the gift was born out of a conversation on the board "The Bronze" one night, someone said that Spike needed someone faithful, someone who will give him unconditional love, someone who will not run off with the closest vampire or chaos demon who looks at her. I hope you enjoy reading The Gift as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> Anything in brackets means it's a thought and not said out loud.
> 
> A/N 5/22/15 This was written back in the middle 2000's, a long long time ago, it's my first story I ever wrote and it's a HUGE Mary Sue, but I didn't know any better back then.

PART 1

Prologue

The woman huddled in the far corner of the dark and damp room. It looked exactly like what it was: a dungeon. She had been here for forever, at least that is what it felt like. She shifted slowly, the chains rattling as she moved. At full strength she could have snapped those chains like toothpicks, but he kept her weak. He wanted her that way; weak, so she couldn’t escape. In the beginning-- what was it; four or five years ago? -- she had tried everything to fight him but as the weeks, then months went on, she stopped trying. When the months turned into years, she gave up. She didn’t care anymore. She just wanted to die. But he wouldn’t let her, he kept her alive. He would even force her to feed. She attempted to fight that too. But he won, he always won. She had stopped trying to defy him along time ago. It didn’t get her anywhere. Her mind wandered as she lay there, the thoughts came like they always did, she couldn’t even control her own mind anymore. The memories came flooding back, memories of when she first "became" what she was. What a joke she was, a vampire whose human half was stronger than her demon, she sneered. They had kept it hidden for a long time, kept it from the other vampires they ran with, but William knew he couldn’t keep it a secret for long, he knew that the others would figure it out. And the others would kill her and enjoy it if they ever found out. She laughed bitterly; overwhelmed with her own weakness. She wished the others had killed her. Anything would be better than this . . .

The door opened slowly, and a shadow fell across her body as she lay on the floor. She knew what was coming and was not able to stop it. He stepped into the room and stood over her. He grinned; a grin that enhanced his beauty. When she had first met Darius more than 65 years ago, she had actually thought he was handsome. He looked like a Greek statue. He had a strong square jaw; dark eyes you could sink into, long black hair that flowed over his shoulders. However she soon learned that the old human saying "you can’t judge a book by its cover" was made just for him. He was draped in evil; he was evil given flesh. She didn’t even like being in the same room with him back then, but William liked being around Darius, he always said it gave him a sense of power to be around him. She had tried to tell William how she felt, but he just waved her fears away, like he always did. He said she didn’t understand, couldn’t understand because of her "problem."

Darius stood over her, he held the wine bottle in his hands like it was ambrosia, like it was something precious. Not to her though, she would rather do without it. She prayed to God he would let her die. If he knew she prayed he would laugh, yes, he would find that a subject for ridicule; a vampire that prayed to the human God. What a joke she was.

He bent down and told her to open her mouth. She stared at him and thought about refusing, but she knew he would force her if he had to, just like he had done a thousand times in the past. She slowly raised her head and opened her mouth. He poured the blood in slowly, so she wouldn’t spill any. It was still warm. she told herself, 

The liquid flowed down her throat, hating herself, but she drank. It tasted so good, so rich. Warming her body as it spread through her limbs. She swallowed until it was all gone. Her body always betrayed her. If she was stronger, she could fight the cravings as she had in the past, but he kept her weak and her body needed the blood he brought to her. She reached up and wiped her lips, but there was no blood on them, she had not let a drop escape from her hungry mouth. She looked up at Darius with loathing in her eyes, despising him for making her drink. His laughter when it came was cruel.

Grabbing her hair at the base of her skull, he forced her to look up into his face. "I know you hate me, but there is such a fine line between love and hate. As long as you still feel something, I think I will keep you."

She tried to pool enough saliva in her mouth to spit in his face, but failed. Knowing it was useless her mouth was dry as a bone again. The small piece of her that rebelled had to make the attempt.

"We will try again tonight, my dear. This might very well be your last chance. If it doesn’t happen this time, I will kill you. You know that don’t you?" He smiled that evil grin again. "Then again that is what you want, isn’t it?"

She didn’t answer him. He hadn’t expected her to.

"Well, we will see, won’t we? I will send Diego for you in about an hour, as you will need to bathe. The dungeon does give you an earthy smell, and we don’t want that do we? I will see you then, my dear." He turned and walked back to the door, leaving her to wait. As she had waited a thousand times before.

She could feel herself starting to withdraw into that little room in her mind, the room where she was safe from whatever Darius did to her body. There she drowned herself in her memories of William. William making love to her, over and over again. William holding her in his arms. William walking with her in the moonlight. The gentle, sweet memories kept her mind away from what was really being done to her body. She stepped into that room and quietly closed the door behind.

Chapter I -

Willow sat in the library typing away at the keyboard, she was researching something for Giles, translating a prophecy from Old English to something even Xander could read.

"Where do these people come up with this stuff" she thought out loud?

"What, did they have some kind of secret Society, write a prophecy and you’re in the club."

She had been working on this thing for hours, her arms felt like they were going to fall off and her eyes were watering.

"Well, I’m done for tonight." Hitting the save button she started to collect all her papers and prepared to head home. She looked down at her watch and was surprised to find out it was 10:45.

The hour meant another long walk home in the dark. She would need some supplies, as she had used up her supply of holy water last night helping Buffy fight off a bunch of Angelus’ henchmen at the cemetery.

"You’d think they would learn, Buffy wins every time" she chuckled to herself.

"At least I hope she does," she spoke aloud again.

She walked to the supply cage, Giles usually had extra slayer supplies on hand for when they needed them. Opening the door she found what she needed and put them into her backpack.

She slung her pack over her shoulder. She was headed toward the door when she saw a shadow pass by the round window in front of her. She froze. She should have been alone in the school at this time of night.

The door began to open. Willow saw a very feminine hand gripping the edge of the door frame. As the door pushed open Willow felt like her feet were nailed to the floor, she knew she should hide. The hand was too perfect, too pale; Willow knew it was a vampire. She prepared herself for a fight . . .

To her surprise it was not Dru or any of the other female vamps who ran with Spike and Angelus. She had never seen this vamp before. She had jet black hair that flowed down her back, just barely touching the tiled floor. She was wearing a long black dress that revealed her ankles when she moved. She heard a noise like a small rumble, and it hit her that the woman was trying to get her attention.

Willow looked up into the face of the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, the flawless pale skin tone told the story: perfect and white like only a vampire could possess. But her eyes caught and held Willow’s attention, blue almost like crystal. Willow felt like she was looking into a clear stream of water, a sparkling mountain stream. On someone else these eyes would look cold and calculating but on this creature they fit with the rest of her -- a thing of beauty.

"Hello, I didn’t expect anyone to be here, I’m looking for Rupert Giles." She spoke in a lyrical voice.

Willow thought to herself; 

"Giles isn’t here right now" Willow said, waiting, waiting for the woman to spring at her. But she never moved. The woman looked down at the floor. If Willow hadn’t known better, she would have thought she looked lost.

"Can I help you with something?" Willow asks.

The woman answered her in that melodic voice; "Yes, do you know where he is, I have to find him now."

Willow spoke quickly; "I know how to get in contact with him."

"How?" the woman looked at Willow with interest for the first time.

"I know where he lives, bbbut . . . " Willow stuttered for the first time that night. Well she thought; 

"Take me there." 

Willow looked at the woman in front of her, this was so weird, standing in the middle of the library with a vamp and there’s no killing. Willow thought. 

"Why?" Willow asked. 

The woman looked through Willow as though she wasn’t even there. Then she slowly started to turn away; "I don’t have time for this little girl, take me to him NOW!" 

Normally a vampire shouting orders at Willow would inspire her to reach for her cross or holy water. But something inside of Willow told her this one was different. A picture of Angel suddenly flashed thru Willows mind. 

Willow couldn’t stem her curiosity and asked her; "Who are you?" 

"I am Marissa, who are you?" The woman replied impatiently. 

"W-Willow" she stammered. 

"Oh, you are one of the Slayers friends." 

"How do you know about the Slayer?" Willow asked. 

"I do not have time to answer your questions right now. I must find the Watcher. Time is extremely important. Take me there . . . please." Marissa turned and walked out of the library, clearly expecting Willow to follow. 

"Okay." Willow said to the empty room. She ran to catch up to Marissa who was already half way down the hall. As Willow walked side by side with the beautiful vamp, she watched Marissa out of the corner of her eye. Willow may have decided to take the woman to Giles but . . . 

Willow couldn’t believe she was doing this. But her instinct told her to trust this woman, and her instinct’s had never let her down before. Well-- there was that time with Angel --but that didn’t count . . . did it? 

The two walked out of the school, Marissa turned and started heading for the school parking lot, Willow stopped and started after her, "where are you going?" 

"I have my car, would you rather walk?" Marissa asked. 

Willow looked ahead and noticed a small red compact car sitting in the school parking lot all alone. "Uh, no, I just didn’t realize you drove here." 

"Did you think I walked here from Vancouver?" Marissa looked at Willow like she was an idiot. 

"Well, we just don’t get a lot of vampires with licenses, around here." Willow muttered. "Well, there’s Spike. He drives that big old ugly black thing." 

The woman stopped dead in her tracks. "William is here?" she asked speaking so very quickly. Willow had trouble making out her words at first. 

"William . . . who’s William?" Willow asked 

"Tall thin guy, with bleached blonde hair" Marissa told her. 

"Oh, you mean William the Bloody, we just call him Spike." Willow told her. "Do you know Spike?" 

"Yes," Marissa spoke slowly this time, she had a far off look in her eyes, Willow thought she looked like she was really shocked to hear that Spike was here in Sunnydale. 

Willow watched her cautiously, wondering what was going on inside Marissa’s head. 

"Well, he’s been here for a while, him and Druscilla . . . oh, and Angelus. We used to call him Angel, until he, ah . . . he lost his . . . " 

Marissa could hear the pain in the younger girl’s voice. 

"He lost his soul, is that what you are trying to say" the woman spoke like she understood exactly what Willow was going through, trying to get the words out of her mouth. 

"Yes," Marissa grimaced. "I know all about Angel and Angelus that is why I am here." She spoke with a determined look in her eyes. "That is what I am here to take care of, I am going to return Angel’s soul, if it is the last thing I do, he will be returned." 

Willow couldn’t hear her mutter . . . "and it may very well be the last thing I ever do . . ." 

  

Chapter II 

Marissa started moving toward the parking lot again, Willow had to run to catch up with her. They got into the car and Marissa started the car and proceeded to pull into the driveway, she braked and looked at Willow expectedly. Willow looked back at her, wondering what she had done wrong. She had buckled her belt, what more did she want . 

"Which way." 

"Oh, left . . . turn," Willow gave her directions to get to Giles Apartment. It was silent in the car as the two women drove through the night. 

As they pulled up in front of Giles Apartment, Willow spoke again, "why do you need to see Giles?" 

The vampire didn’t turn her head, she was studying the layout of the building, watching to see if there would be any surprises when they got out of the vehicle. "Let’s just say it is a matter of life and death." 

"It always is" Willow spoke with a hint of sarcasm, "that’s what life is like living on top of a Hellmouth." 

"It’s about a Prophecy, isn’t?" Willow asked. 

"What do you know about that?" clearly the woman wasn’t expecting this statement from this young child. 

"Because it’s always about a Prophecy, except when its about ghost or other scaries,"Willow said matter-of-factly. "We live on a Hellmouth, you know, there’s always something going on." . 

Marissa slowly opened the car door, watching and waiting just incase there was something out there, she didn’t feel anything, she had come to rely on her instincts over the years. It had helped save her life on more than one occasion. 

The walked up to the front door of the apartment building, Willow watching Marissa, and Marissa watching the night around them. The darkness surrounded them like a shroud. Willow reached up to knock on the door. After just two brisk knocks she heard noises from inside the apartment, a few seconds later the door opened and she looked into the face of her friend, Rupert Giles. Unfortunately, Giles saw the other woman first, instinctively he reached out and grabbed the younger woman pulling her behind him. Never taking his eyes off the woman, "who are you, what do you want?" Giles eyed the female vampire with suspicion. 

"But Giles," Willow tried to speak but before she could tell him what was going on, the other woman spoke. 

"Are you Rupert Giles?" Marissa asks him. 

"Yes, who are you?" Giles shot back at her. 

"My name is Marissa. Brother Luca sent me." Marissa told him. 

Giles was surprised to hear that name from her lips. "Brother Luca, but your a. . . ." 

"A vampire, but I am not going to hurt you, ask your friend there, we have been together for more than 30 minutes and I have not hurt her." Marissa spoke with strength in her voice, 

"Brother Luca sent me to help with the Angelus problem." Marissa stated. "He told me to give you this." 

She held her hand out and opened her palm, inside was a small grey button, "He said you would know what it means." 

Giles looked at the button, he put his glasses on with one hand and reached out with the other and took the button from the woman. "Yes, I know what it means." Seeing the button he realized whatever was happening here was of the utmost importance, he knew he could trust this woman, even if she was a vampire. Brother Luca only used the button to let Giles know that something dreadful was about to happen. Giles had been introduced to Brother Luca through Jenny Calendar. Jenny had been a teacher at Sunnydale High, or that is what the Slayer and her friends had thought at first, it turned out she was sent here by the Gypsy Tribe that had cursed Angel in the first place. She had dabbled in the pagan arts, hoping to find a restoration spell to help bring back Angel’s soul, but in the end that search had cost her her life. When Angelus had somehow found out this information, he had killed her. 

After Jenny’s death Giles had stayed in contact with Brother Luca. Brother Luca and his Jesuit order had helped Giles countless times in his research of different prophecies’. The Order located in Canada; were in their own way helping in the fight against evil. Brother Luca would pass things onto Giles, things that had come in handy on more than one occasion. 

Giles stepped back from the door and hesitated, it took a lot for him to do what he was about to do, after what Angelus had done in his home, he still carried the picture of Jenny, laying in his bed surrounded by rose petals. But if Brother Luca had sent this woman, there was a good reason for it. 

"Come in, your welcome in my home." Giles hoped he hadn’t just made a fatal mistake. 

Marissa stepped into the apartment she turned and looked at the man standing in front of her. "Brother Luca ask me to come here and help you with Angelus." 

"Help how?" Willow questioned, she was tired of being ignored. 

"By bringing Angel’s soul back to his body." The woman told them. 

"We tried the restoration spell, but it didn’t work," Willow told her. 

"And you’re still alive to talk about it" Marissa was a bit shocked. "Who tried it, who lead the chant?" 

Willow spoke again "I did." 

Marissa looked at the red-haired child with shock clearly expressed in her eyes. "How? You are not Romani?" 

Giles answered her, "We had the original Romani spell." 

"From Janna?" Marissa asked. 

"Janna, who’s that?" Willow spoke again. She was getting excited, she could feel the adrenaline flowing threw her veins. Bringing Angel back would be great, well as far as she was concerned. Xander might feel differently but she was used to her friends jealousies when it came to Buffy’s former boyfriend. 

Giles realized they were still standing in the doorway. He quickly shut the door and motioned for them to go into the living room. The women turned and walked in the room, Giles motioned for them to sit. Marissa sat on the chair closest to her. She didn’t even look around the room. She had to make them understand how important it was to get started as soon as possible, the clock was ticking. 

"Janna was Jenny Calendar, she was sent to watch over Angel" Marissa answered. 

"Yes, we used Miss Calendar’s spell," Willow told the other woman, she sat on the edge of the sofa, she thought this is how Buffy must feel, when she is brainstorming with Giles about things. , "Oh my gosh Giles, Buffy, we have to tell Buffy, she’s not gonna believe this. This means she won’t have to kill Angel now." 

Giles could hear the excitement in Willows voice, "Well, lets find out what is happening here first, Willow then we’ll tell Buffy." He didn’t want to get the girl’s hopes up yet, not until he knew what was going on. 

"The slayer, right, Buffy Summers, Brother Luca told me about her, a slayer that is in love with a vampire, and you as her watcher allowed this?" Marissa asked the man. 

"Its not about allowing with Buffy, she is a very determined woman who very much has a mind of her own," Giles spoke with a hint of humor in his voice, he knew Buffy’s strengths and weaknesses. And Angel could be called both. 

Marissa heard the faint touch of laughter in the watchers voice, she still couldn’t believe it, Angel was in love with a slayer. But then again, if anyone deserved love in this world, it was Angel, how many times in her life had she thought that he needed someone. Someone who could give him the love he deserved, how many times had he been there for her. Just to be her friend, to hold her in the darkness and tell her everything was going to be ok. 

She thought back to that time in her life, when she had first been separated from William, she had been lost. She didn’t want to live knowing he hadn’t wanted her anymore, he had always promised her he would be there. But in the end; what she had expected to happen had happened. He had just walked away from her. He hadn’t wanted her in his life. 

She was different from other vampires, she was too human, he had told her he would take care of her, keep the other vampires from hurting her, and they had tried, she knew that they felt she was a "freak." Her humanity kept her from being one of them. After Angelus had drained her life away, he had thrown her at William’s feet and taunted him with the fact that he had turned her the woman he had loved before he became one of them, a vampire. But something had gone wrong, seriously wrong. She regained consciousness but she hadn’t felt any different. A slight hunger, but nothing else, she felt blank. William had informed her of what she was, what she had become. He told her what she had to do to survive, but she wouldn’t eat when they took her out hunting with them. She tried to do what they wanted, it was like she could hear the blood calling out to her, but she couldn’t kill. She would not kill to survive, finally William had tried to feed her blood he had drained from a young girl he had found one night. But she couldn’t drink it, knowing where it had come from held her back. 

Finally he promised her she didn’t have to kill her catch, she would go out hunting with them, but she always separated herself from the rest of them, she would travel alone in the night and search for the low lifes that crept along the street in the dead of night, hiding away from the world. She could feed on them, and leave them alive. Even thought they were the dregs of society, she still couldn’t kill. Not even to survive. 

She was still lost in the past, when she realized both of the humans were looking at her with odd looks on their faces, she finally realized that they had spoken to her, she had been so lost in her memories she hadn’t heard them. She shook herself mentally and composed herself. She looked up into their faces, waiting for them to repeat the statement. 

Giles spoke first, "Buffy not only loved Angel. Angel loved her just as much. Angel helped Buffy with her slaying duties." 

"They worked really well together, they were a great team until . . . " Willow let her sentence trail off, she didn’t want to state that Angelus was now trying to kill Buffy every chance he got. 

"Until Angel lost his soul, and tried to kill Buffy and all her friends," the Librarian stated. "Are you telling us you can help Angel regain his soul?" 

"Yes, Brother Luca wants me to restore it using the original spell, but with a few modifications this time" Marissa told them. 

"What modifications?" Giles asks her. 

"Without the happiness clause, and maybe without the guilt Angel felt the first time." Marissa raised her voice with determination. "The original spell or curse as they called it was put in place to make Angel pay for all the crimes of his past. If I can make a few changes, he will not have to face the guilt he had to face for the last 100 years. At least that is what Brother Luca and I have talked about." Marissa informed them. 

Marissa raised her eyes to Giles and he could see the emotion in them, "There are things you need to know. If we do not return Angel’s soul soon, he will become too powerful for the spell to work, it has to be done before the next new moon rise, that gives us less than 48 hours to work with." 

  

Chapter III - 

Joyce Summers slowly shook her daughter awake, she had no way of knowing that the reason why she couldn’t wake her was because Buffy had been patrolling until 2:00 A.M. 

"Buffy" Joyce spoke quietly. 

"Buffy" she tried again. 

Finally she realized this tactic wasn’t going to work. So grabbed both of the girls’ arms and shook her roughly. "Buffy!" 

Buffy sat up and reached up her sleeve for the stake she always kept there. It wasn’t there, neither was the sleeve. She was in bed, her mother was standing over her, "I’m up mom, I’m up" Buffy spoke groggily. 

"Your teacher Mr. Giles is on the phone he says he has to speak with you before you come to school today." Her mother questioned her, "did you forget to return your library books again?" 

"Yeah, mom, my library books, yeah right." 

Buffy slowly got out of bed and reached for her robe, she heard her mother muttering to herself as she walked out of the room, "is it that important that he had to call you before school, it couldn’t have waited for a few hours." 

"It’s a really important book mom" Buffy waited until her mother shut the door behind her before she picked up the telephone. 

"Giles what’s up that you had to wake me at the crack of dawn?" Buffy rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and yawned. 

"Crack of dawn, its well past the . . . " Giles started to tell Buffy what time it was, but she was not up for another lecture at this hour of the morning. 

"Give Giles, if I wanted to know the time I would look at my alarm clock, and do I need to remind you, that said alarm clock has not even gone off yet." 

Giles voice came over the telephone line, "Buffy, I need you to come to the library now, and time is of the essence." 

"What could possibly have you wiggins at this time of the morn . . . click?" Buffy stared at the phone in her hand. "He hung up on me, Giles Rupert the man with the manners, hung up on me." 

"Well, I guess I’ll find out when I get there." Buffy turned to get dressed. 

********************* 

As Buffy entered the school she noticed how quiet it was, sort of like the cemetery when she patrolled at night. Would there ever be a time when she didn’t compare quietness to a cemetery, but then again if someone had told her a few short years ago that she would be spending all her time in a cemetery, she would have thought they were nuts. 

The closer to the library she got she could hear the voices inside, Willow; Xander. What where they doing in the library at this hour and what where they arguing about? She pushed the doors open and saw that the whole gang was there Giles, Willow, Xander, Cordelia and Oz. Ok, the first four Buffy could understand but Oz, where did he fit in. 

As she opened the double doors, she noticed the blinds were pulled tightly shut. Allowing no sun light in, what was up with that? 

"So what’s up?" Buffy questioned the group. "Is this a party? Sorry it’s not my birthday. Is it?" 

Could she have possibly forgotten something important, she realized with everything that was going on with Angelus her mental skills weren’t the best, but she usually remembered the special occasions? 

"Buffy, your not going to believe what has happened," Willow exclaimed with excitement. 

"It hasn’t happened yet, and it won’t, not if I have anything to do about it." Xander snarled to no one in particular. 

Cordelia never even bothered looking at him, "Xander, shut-up, it’s not your decision to make." 

"It shouldn’t be anybody’s decision. This is wrong, dead wrong." The boy was clearly agitated about something. 

"We already discussed this, boy it is not anyone’s decision, I am doing it." 

Buffy didn’t recognize the voice coming from Giles office. She looked at the others, waiting for the answer to her unspoken look. 

"Buffy, Brother Luca has sent someone here to help us," Giles spoke up for the first time. 

Buffy watched her mentor as he reached up and removed his glasses, taking his handkerchief out, he started to clean the lenses. She knew he did this whenever he was nervous about something. 

"Ok. Someone tell me what is going on here?" Buffy waited for someone to answer her. 

"Are you the slayer?" 

Buffy looked up into a face that was unbelievably beautiful. She could easily say this was the most striking person she had ever seen. Who was she? 

"And you are . . . ?" Buffy asked her. 

The woman looked at her with vast interest, so this was the woman that Angel loved, Marissa could understand why Angel would be drawn to her. She had such a innocent beauty. And a strength, Marissa could feel this women’s strength from across the room. she thought, 

"I am Marissa. You are Buffy Summers" the woman stated this quietly, she already knew the answer to her question. 

Buffy noticed the whiteness of her skin, the clear pure tone, this thought entered her head at the same time as another question came to her, 

"And what exactly do you want?" Buffy thrust the question at her. 

"Buffy, Marissa is going to help us restore Angel’s soul," Willow’s excitement came pouring out of her voice. 

Buffy’s voice came out coldly, "And why are willing to help us, you’re a vamp, you should be happy that Angelus has his soul back, aren’t you?" 

"No, that is the last thing I what for him." Marissa was getting weary of having to play word games with these humans. 

"And we should trust you because . . . ?" Buffy waited to hear her answer. 

Marissa spoke with a quiet determination, for the first time she spoke with emotion, "Because he is my friend and I owe him my life." 

"Dead boy had friends? Well, friends that aren’t trying to kill everything insight." Xander quipped. 

Buffy ignored him, like she did most of the time when Xander used Angel as his joke punching bag. She never took her eyes off the woman in front of her. Who was this woman and what was her relationship to Angel? Buffy knew this wasn’t the time to worry about it, but the thought still crept into her brain. 

"Buffy, Brother Luca sent Marissa to us, if he thinks she can help us, then she can." Giles told her. 

"I can’t believe we are even discussing this, dead boy is gone and in his place is a murdering son-of-a-bi . . . " Xander saw the look in Buffy’s eye and it stopped him dead. He had never seen her look so cold and calculating. 

"Do you think you can walk in here and just expect us to believe you?" Buffy couldn’t control the words that were coming out of her mouth. 

"I do not expect you to believe anything, I do not need anything from you, I am performing the restoration spell, with you or without you. It does not matter what you think or feel. But I do need your friend Willow to help me. And one other person, someone who is not going to fight me every step of the way." She said this last part to everyone in the room. She needed three people for the ritual, three people that totally believed Angel deserved to regain his soul. 

The purple haired boy in the back of the room spoke up for the first time, Marissa had forgotten he was there. 

"Willow is this important to you?" Oz asked. 

She looked at him with a look that sent a tingling feeling to his toes. 

"Yes Oz this is very important to me" Willow answered the boy. 

"Ok, then that’s all I need to know, I’ll help you." The boy looked at the other people in the room, he wasn’t sure what he was waiting for, he was new to all this, but if Willow wanted this, so did he. 

"I’ll help too," the brunette sitting at the table filing her fingernails spoke without looking up. 

Xander looked at Cordelia as if she had grown two heads; "You will not!" he yelled at her. 

"And you and what armies are going to stop me?" She never even looked up. She was fed up with his jealousy’s over Buffy. If Angel was back then maybe she wouldn’t have to worry about losing Xander to Buffy so much. 

Marissa understood instantly, these people could be counted as Angel’s friends too. At least some of them could be. She walked up to Giles and started to tell him what she would need. 

"Ah, excuse me Mr. Tweed, you can’t be seriously thinking about helping them can you?" Xander was still hoping to persuade them from this lunacy. "After what he did to Ms. Calendar, do you really think she would want this?" 

Giles slowly turned and looked at the boy, he clearly understood where Xander’s anger was coming from, Angelus had hurt them all. But he knew that what he was about to do was right, it was the only thing he could do. For her, it’s what Jenny had wanted. Maybe he could erase some of the pain of her loss if he did this. 

"Yes, I can honestly stand here and say that this is what she would want me to do. She gave up her life trying to bring Angel’s soul back. I am going to help finish what she started." 

"Xander, why can’t you understand that it wasn’t Angel who did this to us, Angel would never hurt us. This is the demon that has control of his body. Angel has had no control over any of this." Willow tried one last time to make her friend understand. 

"Angel is not even here, he is in the ether, his body is walking around, talking, planning, destroying everything he comes in contact with," Willow thought she saw a tear form in Marissa’s eye as the woman spoke. "But Angel’s soul, the part that makes him who he is, the part that is my friend, is lost floating in a haze, waiting for someone to come and guide him home." 

Marissa turned away before Willow could be sure of the tears’ existence. 

"And if we do not do this in the next 40 hours, Angel will be lost forever. Angelus is getting stronger every day, every time he feeds he becomes stronger. As he gains strength Angel loses his. The ether is only a temporary holding place. We are losing him, even as we stand her and talk about it, Angel is getting weaker and weaker. Soon he will not be strong enough to help us guide him home. We have to do this now, or he will die." 

Willow turned back toward the slayer; "Buffy please. You have to help us, for Angel." 

Buffy stood there; confusion clearly written on her face. 

"Buffy, please" Willow tried one last time. 

Angel’s face floated in front of Buffy’s eyes, 

She pictured his face again, picturing it the night they had made love, their last night together. That picture is what made her mind up for her. "Ok, I’ll help, what do I have to do?" 

Marissa handed Giles a list of things she would need. He read over the list, rubbing the back of his neck as if the pain there would never go away. 

"I have written down the name of the shops where Brother Luca told me we could find everything we will need." Marissa spoke with determination, she would make this work, if everything went the way she planned by midnight Angelus would be gone; for good this time. 

"What about this other stuff, these things at the bottom of the list?" Giles questioned her. 

"Brother Luca thought that we would be better off collecting them before hand, I have them here in my bag," Marissa laid the bag she was holding onto the counter, she started pulling things out and laying them on the counter top beside the bag. A large crystal globe, a bottle of what looked like potpourri, and a box of what looked like bones. 

"Ok, Oz can we use your van to run and collect these articles?" Giles waited for the boys response. 

"Sure, lets go." He started walking toward the door with Giles. Giles slid the arms of his jacket around his shoulders. "You want to drive?" Oz asked him "it shouldn’t be too much different then that little car of yours, same concept." The two were still talking as they walked through the double doors. 

  

Chapter IV 

"How are we gonna get Angel here?" Buffy wanted to know everything that was going to go down tonight. She had to be prepared for anything. 

"I have already taken care of that, I sent him a note that he will not be able to ignore." Marissa answered without looking up, she was laying the articles she had brought with her in different positions around the table. 

"What did you say to him?" Willow asked. 

Everyone in the room turned to listen to her answer. 

"I told him I was here. He will not miss the chance to kill me." Marissa answered matter-of-factly. She still hadn’t looked up. 

"I thought you were his friend," Xander raised his hands and made little quotation actions with his fingers as he said the word friend. 

"I said Angel was my friend. Angelus wants to see me dead." Marissa answered the boy. 

"Why?" Buffy questioned. 

This time the vamp stopped what she was doing and looked at the girl, "because I am his greatest failure." 

Xander looked at the girl and snipped; "Next you’ll be telling us he’s your Sire." 

Marissa didn’t know why the boy asked this; but she didn’t stop to think before she answered; "Yes, he is the vampire who sired me." 

"Man he got all the great looking women." Xander hadn’t seen Cordelia move up beside him. But he felt her elbow when she gouged it into his ribs. 

"Ouch, what was that for?" He asked the brunette. 

"You need to ask." She snapped. 

Buffy had frozen when she had heard the women’s answer. This vampire was made by Angel, like Druscilla. Another woman from Angels past, well she had wanted to know more about him. But the more she knew the less she wanted to hear about it. 

"Well, I am not helping with this, that’s for sure." Xander crossed his arms and slid his hands into his armpits as he said this to show his defiance. 

Cordelia leaned up and whispered something in his ear. 

Xander’s eyes widened until the others thought they were going to pop out of his head. 

"But . . . you wouldn’t do that . . . would you?" Xander turned to the girl. She just stared back at him. 

She reached up and whispered something else. 

"Ok, What do you want me to do." Xander dropped his arms and slowly walked toward the table. The women were shocked to see this change in him, but they weren’t going to question it, they weren’t sure they wanted to know what Cordelia had used to persuade him to help. 

Marissa spoke softly and slowly to the four people left in the library, they had a lot to do, and not that much time to prepare for it. She told them were to place everything. She could feel the confusion running through these humans as they worked at her side. It showed how much they cared about Angel, they were willing to help her even after everything Angelus had done to them. But in away she was not surprised, she herself would do anything for him. She owed him her life. 

As they worked side by side the memories once again crowded into her mind. She remembered how she felt the last time she had seen Angel. It was 25 years ago, in San Francisco, they were only going to be separated for a few days. Angel was going to go and help Whistler with something. Whistler was another demon that had helped other demons out in their time of need. Most demons didn’t need help with anything. But there were a few like her and Angel that were lost in this world that had been thrust on them. He was there to help, help them cope, find a way in life, find an existence that they could live with. It depended on the demon. Some like her wanted his help. Some didn’t. Angel had helped him off and on over the years. Angel told her he would return in a few days. And then they would try some place else, some new place. That is how they had lived their lives, traveling around, settling here and there. Staying for a few months, sometimes years, depending on the situation. Neither one of them knew that would be the last time they would see each other. She hadn’t planned on going out that day, but she had a secret, a secret she hadn’t told anyone, not William, not even Angel. 

She had discovered by accident that she could walk in the sunlight. She had been so shocked that she was afraid to tell anyone else. It would just be one more thing that they couldn’t understand about her. She had experimented with things, holy water, crosses, they didn’t burn her, she felt a tingle, but it wasn’t painful. Garlic nauseated her, but it didn’t harm her. She could eat regular food, though desserts were her favorites. She would sneak the cakes and pastries that they sold along the water front. She still needed the blood that Angel got for her, but she could eat the regular food, it didn’t sustain her like the blood did, but it gave her a satisfaction to eat it. She had also discovered that she could "see" a faint reflection of herself when she looked in a mirror, it was one of the few happy moments in her life. She had thought that with Angel gone she could explore San Francisco in the sunlight, walk through the city and exploring all the new sites. She had walked past a funhouse on the pier, not really paying any attention, she noticed that she was walking past a dozen mirrors; she glanced at the reflective glass. She walked closer and looked directly into the glass. She could see "herself." She hadn’t even glanced into a mirror in more than a hundred years. But there she was, she was hazy, like she was out of focus, but she did have a reflection. She could feel the adrenaline flowing through her body. She couldn’t stop staring at herself, what she saw was breathtaking. She wasn’t the young immature woman that she had remembered, in her placed stood a beautiful woman. She giggled. It was a nervous little laugh but it was the first giggle she had experienced in a long, long time. 

She turned from the mirror and walked on, feeling lighthearted, she actually had a smile on her face. She walked on until the sun went down, she was so happy. For the first time in along time, she was happy, she couldn’t wait until Angel returned, she was going to tell him everything she had found out about herself, she realized she had been foolish not telling him, he would never judge her, not like the others had. 

She walked along the pier, watching the moon reflect off the water, she actually bought a cone of cotton candy, she had read about the confection but she had never tried it. It was very good. She nibbled on the sugary substance as she walked along. That is when she heard it, that laugh, she would never forget that laugh, not ever. 

She slowly turned her head, she saw her in the moonlight, she was standing with a man that Marissa couldn’t see. Druscilla, she had hoped that she would never see that face again in her life. The man slowly turned toward Druscilla, my God; William. She had almost made herself believe she didn’t think about him anymore. She thought she had tucked his memories away in that small room in her mind, but now she knew that was a lie, he had always been there, right there in the front. She just didn’t want to admit it. 

She just stood there, not knowing what to do. The people around them disappeared. It was just the three of them standing on that pier. The rest of the world had floated away. It hit her suddenly, they were lovers, she could tell by the way they touched each other, the way they looked at each other. They were watching a game of chance, just as William stepped up to take a chance, Druscilla turned and looked over the crowd. Marissa knew she was searching for a snack, something to feed the bloodlust inside of her. 

She should have run, run as fast and as far as she could. But she just stood there frozen to the pier. Druscilla’s eyes searched the pier, then they came to rest on her. The older vampire’s eyes bored into Marissa. Those same eyes narrowed. Marissa couldn’t look away. Druscilla smiled that crazy smile of hers. Marissa turned and ran, she ran as fast as she could, she didn’t stop until she was back in the warehouse where she and Angel had been living. 

She huddled in her bed. She hadn’t even realized she was crying until she noticed the red stain spreading on her dress. Marissa couldn’t believe what she had seen, after all these years, what had it been 35 or 40 years since she had seen William. Since he had brought her to Angel and ask him to take him off her hands. She had been terrified of Angel, in her mind he was Angelus, she didn’t trust him, he had hurt her, hurt her bad in ways she hadn’t even told William about. She had thought it had been the hardest thing to do in her life, stand and watch William walk out of her life. He promised he would always be there to take care of her. But he had finally gotten tired of taking care of a freak. He had dumped her on Angel’s doorstep and ran as fast as he could to get away from her. 

It had taken her along time to trust Angelus or Angel as she had come to think of him. He had been very cautious with her at first, he had instinctively known that she didn’t trust him. But slowly he had won her trust and then her friendship. He had proved over and over again that he wasn’t the same person as Angelus. He had taught her how to survive, he gave her confidence about herself, helped her through the dark places and brought her back out into the light. She just wished she could have brought him out of the dark with her. But he refused, he firmly believed that he deserved to feel the pain of everything that Angelus had done. Feel it every day of his life. He had tried to take away the pain that William had caused by leaving her. He had told her that William had done it because he loved her. 

But tonight if she had a beating heart it would have stopped. Seeing him with Druscilla, would have caused it to break; realizing what they had become, lovers. He had turned to Druscilla. Crazy, looney, unstable Druscilla. Why her and not me, Marissa thought, why did being crazy make it any easier for him to be with her. She had cried herself to sleep, that night her dreams were filled with the crazy laugh of the black witch. 

She never heard the door opening, never saw the two vampires quietly sneak up to the bed. By the time she was fully awake they had her trussed up. She was gagged and a large bag was placed over her head. She struggled with all her might, she hurt them; she could tell by the muffled groans and moans that came from the two. 

One of the vampires finally got tired of her struggles and hit her as hard as he could on the side of the head, blackness surrounded her . . . 

When she regained consciousness, she was in a dark room, she could make out four stone walls with a door directly across from her. Over her head she saw chains hooked to the wall; the cold links ran along the wall and led to her wrist. She checked to see if she could struggle out of them. She pulled as hard as she could. The links never budged from the silver hoops that held them in place. 

That is the only thing that ran through her mind. She pictured Druscilla in her head, 

The sound of the door opening drew her out of her thoughts. The man standing in front of her was a face out of her past, one that she had thought that she would never see again. A name passed her lips. "Darius" 

"I see you remember me, my dear." The man spoke in the cold calculating voice she remembered so well. He stood over her smirking down at her. "Look’s like you really angered someone little one." 

"Who? Who did this to me?" she asked. 

"Well let’s just say someone from your past" he looked at her like she was some delicate morsel. 

Marissa drew herself up. She wondered if he was going to kill her. 

As if he had read her mind he slowly shook his head, "No, I’m not going to kill you, not yet at least. I have plans for you my dear, plans that don’t include killing you just yet. We’re going to play, you and I. And you are so going to enjoy my little games, this I can promise you." 

Marissa was lost in the past so deep, she at first didn’t feel Willow shaking her . . . "Marissa" . . . 

The vampire looked up into the girls eyes. 

"Marissa, are you ok?" Willow asked her. 

"Yes, I am fine. We have a lot of work to do." She looked up at the clock on the wall. "We have about 12 hours until midnight." She turned to walk to the end of the table, she stumbled, dizziness clutching at her head, grabbing onto the edge of the table her head slumped to her chest. 

part 2 

by bec 

Chapter V 

"Marissa what’s wrong?" Willow reached out to help her. The vampire turned away, "I am fine, just give me a minute". 

The four humans watched her, one with concern the other three with curiosity. 

"What’s the matter with you?" Buffy asked. 

Marissa turned and looked at the humans in the room, not wanting to discuss this topic with them. They wouldn’t be able to handle it. How could she tell them she hadn’t fed in awhile and she was very hungry. She straighten up and pulled her shoulders back. She hated letting anyone see her weak. Showing her weakness left her open, and even though she didn’t fear anything from these humans she still didn’t like letting them see her this way. 

"Is there anything I can do" Willow murmured. She liked this woman and she didn’t like seeing the pain that was etched across Marissa’s face. 

"No, there is nothing you can do" Marissa said; "I have to leave for a few minutes but I will be back soon". 

As the woman turned to go Buffy stepped in front of her grabbing her arm, "You rush in here and tell us we have to do this now, then you run off to who knows where, how do we know your coming back?" 

"I will return, I have to take care of something first," Marissa jerked her arm away from the slayer. 

"What?" Buffy demanded. This woman wanted their trust but she had to earn it, they weren’t just going to give it to her. 

Marissa stared into Buffy’s eyes; "I have to feed, do you want to come along and watch?" Her voice was filled with sarcasm. 

"Feed on who?" Buffy came back at her. 

"Not who; what" Marissa said. 

Willow quickly asked "So how do you feed Marissa... if you don’t mind my asking, ah... if you don’t want to answer that’s ok, I mean drinking blood is so personal, its just not something that generally comes up in a conversation, but then again how may people actually get to have a conversation with a real live...well, not live...but....." 

"Willow it is all right, I do not mind discussing it. "I only feed on bagged blood, Angel taught me that little trick. Now do any of you want to come along and watch or are we just going to stand around and argue?" 

"Yuck!" this coming from Cordelia. 

"And where exactly are you going, the local blood bank?" Xander spoke up, he really didn’t care if she came back or not. To him this whole thing was foolish and it could end right now. "Hate to remind you of this but the sun is shining and your a vamp. Does the phrase "up in smoke" remind you of more than a Cheech and Chong album title to you?" 

"Cordelia looked at Xander and said "Who’s Cheech and Chong, is that a rock group?" 

As usual they ignored her. 

"I am staying at Angel’s former apartment, it is the only address Brother Luca had for him" Marissa told them. "I will use the sewer tunnels to get there." She wasn’t really going to use the tunnels, she was going to slip out the back and use her car. But she wasn’t ready to let them know about her secrets, not yet. 

Buffy thought of this woman living in Angel’s apartment, sleeping in Angel’s bed. But she couldn’t say anything about it. She had no idea what this woman meant to Angel. They might have been lovers, and she wasn’t emotionally ready to even think about that right now. 

"Ok, well your the one who was in a hurry, so do what you have to do and get back here. If we’re going to do this lets get it done." Buffy went back to laying out the things onto the table, she didn’t look up again, she wanted to get this over with, she didn’t want to stop and think about what would happen if this worked. How was she going to face Angel if his soul was returned. What would she say to him. 

Willow watched her friend; she knew what was going through Buffy’s head. If this worked they would have Angel back. But what would happen after Angel’s soul was returned. How would any of them handle it. How would Angel handle it. If he felt guilt for what Angelus had done before, how would he feel about the things the demon had done to Buffy and Ms. Calendar. Willow didn’t think that Angel would want to live with knowing what Angelus had done to Ms. Calendar. She knew that once Angel had his soul returned their job would be a lot tougher. 

Marissa gave them instruction on what to do with the rest of the things she had brought. She also told them what to do with the things that Giles and Oz would be bringing back with them. Willow told Marissa how to get out of the library through the stacks. She turned and headed towards the stacks. 

The kids watched the woman walk into the shelves of books and disappear. 

Willow turned to Buffy and asked her "Are you ok with all of this?" 

Buffy stopped working and turned to her friend. She didn’t know what to say to her. She knew Willow was worried about her, but she was so confused about all of this. She couldn’t put her feelings into words. To look at her you thought the slayer was in total control of herself but inside Buffy was so confused. Fear, anger, and confusion swirled around inside of her. Those emotions had been with for so long now. She knew she had to maintain a total look of control around her friends, if they knew how she really felt they wouldn’t be able to handle it. She wouldn’t be able to handle it. At first when Angel lost his soul she had cried herself to sleep every night. Then when the days turned into weeks, the weeks into months and she realized he was gone for good, she had made herself take control. She was The Slayer. No matter how she felt inside she had a job to do and she did it. But there was always that feeling that if she let herself feel again she would crack, fall completely apart; and she couldn’t do that. She wouldn’t. 

But now with Marissa coming here and getting her hopes up again, no she wouldn’t, couldn’t let herself believe this was going to work. Angel was gone. There was nothing she or anyone could do to bring him back. But also in her head was the thought that what if Angel didn’t want to come back, what if Angel wanted her to do her job and stake Angelus, Angel would be the first person to tell her that that was her job. Take out the evil, destroy it. He would want her to stop Angelus. But that proved to be harder than anything she had ever had to do. 

So, she would help do this because its what Willow wanted. Willow believed that bringing Angel back would solve all their problems, but Buffy knew this wasn’t the truth, the truth was bringing Angel back would just bring them a different set of problems. Buffy knew Angel, knew what he would be feeling "if" his soul was restored. He would hate himself more than they did. That was the truth, but she didn’t have the heart to tell Willow that. 

"I’m fine Willow, but remember we tried this before and it didn’t work, so don’t get your hopes up." Buffy took Willows hands into hers and told her, "If this doesn’t work, its not your fault, you’ve done everything possible. And when it doesn’t work, I’ll do what I have to do-- stake Angel, understand?" 

Willow tried to control the tears that welled up in her eyes, "Yes, I know that, but we still have to try. Not just for Angel, but for us too, for you." 

"Ok, so when this Oprah moment is over, somebody want to tell me what these are for?" Xander held up two glass globes. 

  

Chapter VI 

Three hours later Giles and Oz set the bags onto the library counter. Giles looked around the room and asked "where’s Marissa?" 

"She got the munchies" Xander smirked. 

"She’ll be back soon," Willow said, giving Xander "the" look. The look said Stop it and Stop it now. "What did you bring back with you?" 

"More candles, herbs and some of these things that look like human bones. But there not, right, human that is?" Oz spoke up while laying various items out on the counter." 

"Giles what do you think of all this?" Buffy ask her watcher. 

The librarian removed his glasses and started cleaning the lenses. "Well I trust Brother Luca, Buffy, this vam...woman is a unknown but she has been sent by him; so lets see where it goes. Just be ready for anything, alright?" 

"Always Giles, always." Buffy turned back to the table. "So everything is all laid out, ready to go, all we are missing is Angel and our mysterious vamp." 

"Angelus" 

Buffy turned to see Marissa coming through the stacks. "What?" 

Marissa spoke again, "Angelus, they are not the same entity, Angelus is the one we are after, when I am done, then we will have Angel back." 

"Yeah, well you didn’t have to watch "Angel" tear your friends apart," Xander said to her "you didn’t have to stand by and not be able to stop him from snapping the neck of one of our teachers.... 

"Xander!" Giles moved towards the boy. 

"All right!" Buffy stepped in front of Giles, "everybody just calm down." 

Marissa turned and spoke to the angry boy, "no I did not have to watch that, but I did have to stand by while Angelus slowly and calmly destroyed my own world. I felt him sink his fangs into my flesh, felt the life draining out of me. I could feel his hands on me...... I could feel myself die. Every second, every moment. When you know what that feels like, come and talk to me about Angelus, do you hear me boy." 

Everyone stood silently watching the woman slowly gain control of herself. 

"But what about the times he has helped save a life. He led you to the Master’s lair, he stopped the demon Eyghon from killing Giles and Buffy. He helped remove the demon from Janna’s body, which could have cost him his own life. He helped Buffy save Willow, Cordelia and Janna when your local vampire’s tried to raise the Master. What about when Giles, Willow and yourself were trapped in the boiler room with the gas? If it had not been for Angel you would not be standing here." What about then?." 

"Wait, back up, Angel saved you from the gas, I thought it was the janitor?" Buffy asked. 

"Well," Giles said, "we felt that since you weren’t "seeing" Angel at that moment, that...ah..we decided not to...inform you of his involvement....ah..in that incident." 

"We thought it was for the best, Buffy." Willow said. 

Buffy said nothing, by interrupting Marissa she had ended the Angelus versus Angel argument. 

Giles turned back to Marissa and questioned her; "Wait, how do you know all this?" 

"Brother Luca was informed of everything through the Watcher’s society and Janna’s updates. Nothing was left out." Marissa informed him. 

"Everything?" Buffy asked. 

"Everthing that was put into their journals" Marissa answered her. 

Buffy decided not to question that statement, she really didn’t want to know. "We have a lot to do and only a few hours to do it and its getting dark, we have a kidnapping to plan. So how are we going to get Angel..ah..Angelus on the docks tonight, you said you could get him there by letting him know your here. How is this going to work, like I said I need to know what is going to go down here." 

"This is what I have planned; Buffy, Xander and Oz will go to the docks and capture Angelus." Marissa said. "Giles and the rest of you will stay here and make the final preparations." 

"Wait, just back-up there a moment" Xander looked at her like she was crazy. "And how exactly do we just capture him?" 

Marissa smiled for the first time, "why with a really big net, that is how." 

"And how do we get him under the net?" Xander asked. 

"I will position myself and Angelus under the net. Boy, all you have to do is be ready with the net, Marissa said "just wait for me to signal you. Let me handle the rest." 

**************************** 

The docks were quiet Friday night, no one was around. Which is the way Buffy liked it, she didn’t want any innocent bystanders getting in their way. They had been hiding behind a stack of skids for 25 minutes now. When was he getting here?, she was starting to lose her patience. Buffy didn’t like to wait, when she was calling the shots she liked to make things happen, unfortunately Marissa was in control of this little outing so Buffy had nothing to do but wait. Xander was worse at waiting then she was, he had stayed quiet far longer than Buffy expected him to, but she could tell by his body language that he was starting to get nervous. And a nervous Xander was not something she wanted to deal with right now. Soon she told herself, soon. 

"How much longer are we just going to sit here?" Xander quipped. 

Oz turned to him and said "Until we hear her signal I guess." 

"How long does she expect us to wait" Xander asked. 

Buffy knew she had to get Xander under control before Angelus showed up, Angelus had sharp hearing, and the way Xander was complaining he would hear him the minute he stepped on the docks. 

"Xander shut-up" Buffy hoped that would work. 

It didn’t. 

"Why are we doing this, sitting here waiting for death to creep up on us. He’s not going to go quietly, you know that, don’t you?. He’s going to fight us the whole way. I don’t trust this woman, she’s a vamp; in the end she’s going to side with him. Hey; you don’t think this is a trap do you, Angelus sends her to us and we believe her and then we’re just sitting here like ducks in a pond waiting for Elmer Fudd to show up, Boom, Boom, Boom." 

"Xander you need to expand your horizon’s" Oz said, "not every thing has a down side to it you know." 

Xander looked at him like he was crazy. "Ok, 10 more minutes then we’re out of here, you hear me, hey, you guys hear me?" 

  

Chapter VII 

Spike sat in the corner of the garden. He had pushed his chair to the very back corner, back into the shadows. He liked being in the shadows, he could watch but no one could see him. He hated sitting in this bloody chair, but he wasn’t ready to let the others know that he didn’t need it anymore. He had started exercising his legs more and more, his leg functions had returned. He was at full strength again. But he was gonna keep this little secret to himself. No need to tell them, not yet. He was watching Dru; she sat by the fountain, he could hear the water trickling down onto the stone. Dru sat playing with her "dolls". Tonight her "dolls" consisted of three dead sewer rats. She was dressing them in her doll clothes, little dresses, little hats, right down to their feet, each rat had a tiny pair of shoes strapped to their feet. In the beginning he had thought her behavior was cute, but as the years dragged on it began to grate on him. He now found it tedious and mind-boggling, she didn’t even realized they were dead. She "pretended" that they were three small "babies" she could coddle and love. 

Angelus came through the door, swaggering his way towards Druscilla, he laughed as he bent down to be on eye level with her. "What’a you up to Dru?" 

She looked up and smiled, "Playing with my babies. I’m going to take them to the park, we have to dress them all up, make them pretty for their walk around the park." 

Angelus laughed. "Your babies? Dru, honey those are dead rats, you do realize that, don’t you baby?" 

Druscilla gathered the "babies" to her chest; "No Daddy; their my babies." She held them up to Angelus, "This one is Mellie." She thrust the rat into Angelus’s face, he leaned back as far as his legs would allow him. She held up another one, "This one is Marie" she laid the limp body down in her lap. "And this one is Annie." She held up the last rat. "Do you want to play?" 

"No Dru, that’s ok, I’ll just watch." He looked around the garden. Spike knew the minute Angelus spied him in the shadows. Angelus smiled. 

"Where’s handi-cap boy?" Angelus questioned Druscilla. 

Spike wondered what game his Grandsire was going to play tonight. 

Angelus reached out and ran his hand over Druscilla’s hair. Spike waited for the emotion to hit him. Unbelievably it never came, Spike rolled this thought around in his head. He didn’t care... It didn’t make him feel anything. Spike wondered about this. Had his feeling for Druscilla changed. He thought back to the last couple of months. Angelus had started touching and kissing Druscilla right in-front of Spike as soon as he had returned to the fold. At first it had drove Spike crazy, especially the way Dru craved that touch. She started turning to Angelus more and more. But as it went on the craziness was replaced by an apathy. He wondered about this for a moment. I love Dru, don’t I. As soon as the word "love" popped into his mind another face tagged along behind. He whispered her name......"Marissa". He hadn’t spoken that name out loud in so long. It felt good to speak it, but another emotion slowly tighten around his heart; tighten until it was like a rock in his chest. How long had it been since he had looked into her beautiful face. There was not another face in this world like hers, wether it be the darkness of his world or the world of light. Sweet hell, he missed her. He knew what he had done was for the best, she couldn’t survive in his world. But Angel was no more, so who was watching over her now?, where was she? When he had left her with Angel he knew that it was the best thing he could have done for her. Angel would keep her safe, he lived in that world sandwiched between the dark and the light. He would teach her how to survive in his world. He had thought to ask Angel about her when he first came across him here in Sunnydale, but something stopped him. It was like if he actually said her name out loud he would crumble; break into tiny pieces that couldn’t be put back together again. Was she safe?, was it better for her to be alone? Would it have been better to keep her with him? NO! This world was not her world. She wasn’t like the rest of them, she was a brightness in this word of darkness. A brightness that would have lost its shine if she had stayed. An innocent, who didn’t deserve any of what had been thrown at her. He remembered her face the last time he had seen her. Standing there beside Angel like she was lost. She was lost, lost in this hell that he called his life. Spike mentally shook himself. What he had done was for her own good. He had agonized over his decision. In the end he rationalized to himself that what he had done was the only choice he had. If she had remained in his world, she would have died. He couldn’t have lived with his self, knowing that his world was slowly draining her of all her shining light. But that same thought entered his head, where was she? Who was protecting her? And he couldn’t ask Angelus about her now, oh no. That would be a HUGE mistake. He couldn’t even mention her name in front of Angelus. That lunatic would destroy her if he could. Angelus’s anger when it came to Marissa was totally out of control, she was his one failure. A vampire that wasn’t a vampire. If Spike wasn’t so worried about her, he might have been able to laugh about that. 

Angelus’s loud voice drew Spike back to the two in the garden. 

"Dru baby, what is it?" Angelus was grinning at Druscilla, he raised his eyes to Spike and smirkingly said; "The psychic train pulling into the station. All aboard." 

Dru was waving her head around in a circle and her hands were flapping up and down. The rats were laying on the ground around her; forgotten. 

"She’s coming back to take my boys.....no....no....no." She gripped her head and shook it back and forth. "No....she’s bringing the light with her, have to sstop hher....nnoo....nnoooooooo!" 

"Who Dru?" Angelus asked her. He loved when she did this, gave him such a feeling of power to know she was on his side. "Who is it, the slayer?" 

"NNNoooo......she is bringing the light.....we have to stop the light......" Druscilla slowly calmed down. 

Spike wheeled his chair closer to her, he bent over and picked her up and sat her on his lap. "No one is taking me anywhere, Druscilla; do you hear me? I’m not going anywhere, Princess." 

"My Spikie, you won’t leave me will you, not like my Angel did, will you?" Druscilla curled up in his lap like a small kitten, a small kitten with very sharp claws. 

"No Dru, I won’t leave you, I’ll never leave you." Spike held her in his arms. Was this what his life was always going to be?, always having to reassure Druscilla that he wasn’t leaving her. 

Druscilla suddenly started to claw and hit at Spike. Spike tried to hold her down, but she broke away from him screaming, leaving a bloody trail down his face where her claws caught skin. 

"You liar, she is all around you. You would rather be with her, than with me." Druscilla screamed until her voice was shrill. She threw herself into Angelus’s arms. 

Angelus patted her back. "Its ok, baby. Daddy is here, don’t I always take care of my Dru." 

"You have to kill her, my Angel, you have to kill her for me." 

"Ok, Dru tell me who and I’ll go and kill her now." Angelus spoke to her as if he was talking to a child. He looked over her head at Spike and raised his shoulders in a shrug. "Sure, just tell us her name and I’ll go and kill her right now." 

"No, you have to stay away from her, she’ll take you away from me, like they did before," Dru clutched the front of his shirt, the material tearing as she grasped it. "Promise me you won’t leave me again, promise me!" 

Spike reached out to take her from Angelus, but Dru pushed away from him, "No, you don’t love me, you love her!" 

"DRUSCILLA!, STOP IT! Spike shouted at her. Druscilla turned and ran from the garden. 

Spike sat there and watched her run. He didn’t have the patience to chase after her in this contraption. 

"Let her go, she’ll calm down, she always does." Angelus grinned as he turned to Spike. "She always provides a good floor show doesn’t she." 

"She’ll be fine, she always is after one of her "episodes". Spike said. He turned the chair back to Angelus. "Who do you think she was talking about?" 

Angelus shrugged; "Who knows, with Dru you never know what she’s talking about." 

"Her visions usually have some basis to them." Spike turned the chair back staring at the doorway. 

"Yeah, whatever; so roller boy what are you planning on doing with your evening?" Angelus questioned the blonde vampire. 

"I don’t know maybe a 10-K race through the town square, why what are you up to tonight? Spike smirked. He knew if he wanted to he could. He just couldn’t let Angelus know it. 

"Oh, I have a very exciting evening planned." Angelus told him. "Gonna go down to the docks and pick up a few things." 

Okay, Spike thought I’ll bite; "And what things will you be picking up?" 

"Well, if everything goes according to plan I’ll be able to show "it" to you tonight." Angelus walked towards the door, raising his voice as he moved. 

He turned back at the door, "You might want to wait up for this one Spike, I can guarantee you, you’ll like it." 

Spike knew that meant trouble, big trouble. He sat and watched Angelus walk through the garden doors. 

Maybe he would get lucky and that damn slayer would kill him, then all their problems would be solved and he would have Dru all to himself again. 

But that thought didn’t bring him any peace, is it what he really wanted or not. Spike rubbed his hands over his face, right now he was just too damn tired to even think about Druscilla. He turned the chair and rolled back to his corner thinking about Angelus’s last words. He knew Angelus was up to something. But what? 

  

Chapter VIII 

Angelus strolled along the docks, he was in a good mood tonight, if everything went according to plan he would be able to throw that bitch’s dead body at Spike’s feet tonight, and he couldn’t wait to see Spike’s face then. Oh yeah, that will be so sweet! 

He still couldn’t believe after all these years she was back. Next to the slayer, his hate for Marissa was mild, but he still wanted her dead. She was an abomination, he should have killed her years ago. Hell, he should never have made her a vampire to begin with. He only did it to piss Spike off, just another of his little games he liked to play. And boy did Spike react, that was one of his better plans, really drove Spike crazy and Angelus enjoyed that. 

But the bitch didn’t turn right, something went wrong, she was weak, he just couldn’t imagine that his demon could create such a weak creature, she was a freak and every time Angelus had looked at her he had wanted to throttle her. Destroy her. And tonight he was going to make it happen. He also wanted to kill her because that wimp Angel liked her, actually helped her when Spike wanted to get rid of her. Took care of her even, she saw a side of Angel that Angelus just wanted to forget existed. A softer weaker side, the same soft side that he had showed the slayer and her little pals. 

When Angel had first met Willow she had reminded him a lot of Marissa, they both shared the same innocent quality in their personalities. That’s one of the reasons that Angelus went for Willow first after the change. Willow was so innocent, too bad he didn’t get to sample that innocence the way he did Marissa before he threw her at Spike’s feet. He always wondered why she had never told Spike about that, he knew she never had or Spike would have went for his heart with a stake. He wondered what Spike thought the first time he took her and found out she wasn’t as pure as he thought she was. That thought made Angelus laugh out loud, that’s why Angel had coddled the bitch, thought he owed her for what Angelus had done to her. That was Angel’s main problem he spent more time feeling guilty about everything that the demon had done to enjoy life. But the slayer had taken care of that for him, he had to thank her for that, the loss of that damn soul. Still didn’t make up for the joy she gave that wimp. Well, her lapdog was gone and Angelus was going to make her pay for that joy. Right after he finished with Spikes’ whore he would continue his games with the slayer, she would be nothing when he finally went for the kill. And it would be so sweet, that kill. Sweeter than anything he had ever felt. Soon it would be his. 

The laugh is what alerted the slayer and her friends to Angelus’s presents. Marissa had "felt" him the moment he stepped onto the docks. She knew by the tingle that went through her. It filled her with fear at first but soon she turned that fear into determination, determination to get this over with. Before this night was over, Angel would be back and Angelus would be gone for ever. 

Buffy motioned for Xander to be quiet and be ready, ready for anything. She watched Marissa as she stood and waited for Angelus. 

Angelus spied her standing at the edge of a group of skids near the edge of the water. He approached her without a care in the world, she isn’t strong enough to take me on he thought. He wasn’t worried. 

Marissa kept her back turned to him, she didn’t want him to see her face, the thought voiced itself in her head . But she knew she wasn’t the same weak victim she had been the last time she had seen Angelus. 

"Well, what do we have here, what brings you to Sunnydale?" Angelus asked her. 

"I heard you were in town and just wanted to stop and say hello" Marissa answered him. She slowly turned to look into his face and felt...nothing, there was no pain, no fear. She was looking into the human facade he wore so handsomely. She knew it was not Angel standing in front of her but yet at the same time, it was his body. That thought brought a smile to her face. 

"Yeah, like that would ever happen." Angelus said. 

"What, you do not believe me, that hurts Angelus" Marissa lied. 

"Not as much as it will when I kill you" Angelus laughed. "And I am going to kill you, Rissa." 

Rissa, that is what William had called her, and he knew it. 

"Well, if you think you can, go for it." Marissa calmly told him. 

Something was wrong, Angelus knew that the moment he saw that smile. Why wasn’t she cowering before him. Why wasn’t she frightened. He was in command, didn’t she realize that. 

"Well, well it looks like our little Rissa has gained a backbone." Good, I like it when they fight back. Makes it much more interesting for me." Angelus smirked. "I get bored so easily you know." 

"Oh, I can guarantee you will not be bored tonight." Marissa said. 

"I can’t wait until I can throw you at Spike’s feet again, but quite dead this time." Angelus said. 

"I hate to destroy your plans, but you see I have plans of my own for you tonight." Marissa answered. 

"You have plans, come-on we both know you don’t have it in you to take me on." Angelus said. "Darius took any fighting out of you." 

Marissa stiffened. 

"Didn’t think I knew about that, did you." Angelus said. " Well it seems our mutual friend Darius has been looking for you for quite awhile now. He would do just about anything to get you back. Maybe I won’t kill you, maybe I’ll just turn you over to him." 

Marissa said nothing, she didn’t want to discuss Darius. 

"What does Daruis want with you anyway, come on you can tell me." Angelus said in a smirking voice. 

"The only thing I have to discuss with you is my plans for tonight, you play a crucial part in my evening." Marissa actually made herself smile at him again. 

Angelus had had enough, the time for playing games was over. 

"Enough, lets get this over with!" Angelus vamped out. 

Marissa watched the ridges come up on his forehead, his eyes glowed yellow. Soon, soon....she took two steps backwards. 

"NOW!" she screamed. 

Buffy and Xander released the net. 

Angelus saw the net falling toward him, he tried to throw himself to the side but he wasn’t quick enough, it fell heavily on top of him. He fell to the ground struggling under the weight of the net. "Bitch, get this the hell off of me!" he screamed, "I’m gonna kill you." 

Marissa raised her hand and a soft white light glowed from her fingertips, Angelus stopped struggling, he stiffened and lay motionless. 

She could have captured him using her powers only, but she needed to stay strong for what came next. And subduing him with her powers only would have drained her. Also she wanted Buffy and her friends to feel that they were helping. 

The slayer and her friends came running. 

"What happened to him, why is he unconsciousness?" Buffy asked. 

Marissa ignored her. "Let us go, we do not have much time." 

They loaded him up in the van. Working quickly they didn’t notice that someone was watching from the shadows. As soon as the van pulled away Spike stepped out of the darkness and asked himself, "what the hell was that all about?" He hadn’t been close enough to see who had grabbed Angelus but his senses were tingling heavily. Something big had just gone down, and he didn’t mean Angelus being kidnaped. He stayed to the shadows and followed the van. He had no compulsion to rescue Angelus, after what that bastard had taken from him he wanted him gone, but if something big was about to happen, he wanted to know all about it. 

******************* 

Spike wasn’t shocked when the van pulled up in front of the high school, he had figured the slayer was behind Angelus kidnaping on the run over here. He still wasn’t thinking about saving Angelus, but he was still curious to know what was going down. 

It came as no surprise when the slayer and her two friends stepped out of the van, but when the passenger’s door opened Spike couldn’t believe his eyes. Marissa, Spike stood frozen and watched her approach the back of the van. He watched them remove Angelus’s unconscious body and carry him into the school. It was a few minute before Spike realized he was all alone again. 

********************** 

The four of them carried the limp body into the library. They laid him on the floor in the middle of a large circle drawn on the floor, laid around the circle was all the various things Marissa would need for the restoration spell. Instead of using a table top like they had in the first attempt, Marissa had them arrange all the ingredients on the floor. Angelus laid in the middle of the various items, on either side of him were two baskets each holding a matching orb. 

Marissa took charge immediately. "All right is everything ready Willow?" 

"Yes, we laid out everything like you told us to, the candles are lit and the incense is ready." Willow came around the counter, ready for whatever Marissa needed. 

"Are you ready with the chant?" Marissa asked the young girl. 

Willow looked at the book in her hands, "I’m ready, well… as ready as I’ll ever be." 

"You will do fine, trust yourself." Marissa smiled at the young redhead. 

Willow smiled back and nodded. 

"Good, everyone; are you ready?" Marissa asked the nervous faces surrounding her. 

Buffy took her place at the door, "We’re ready, lets do it." Xander and Cordelia followed her, standing off to the right of the slayer, they knew if she needed to "handle" any problems she would need the room. 

Willow and Oz took their places at the sides of the circle. Oz lit the incense he was holding. He stared to wave them slowly in front of him, letting the smoke circulate around the circle. 

"Gile’s please lower the lights" Marissa said. 

The Englishman reached up and turned out the lights, the library was shrouded in shadows. 

Everyone tensed as they heard Marissa speak, "Willow, start the chant." 

Willow opened the book to the page she had book marked, the edges were dog-eared. She had read this passage a hundred times. 

"Te implor Doamne, nu ignora aceasta rugaminte. Nici mort, nici al fiintei, te invoc, spirit al trecerii! Lasa orbita sa fie vasul care-I va transporta sufletul la el. Asa sa fie! Asa sa fie! Acum! Acum!" 

Giles mouthed the words in English; 

"I implore you Lord, do not ignore this request. Neither dead, nor of the living, I invoke you, spirit 

of the passing! Let this orb be the vessel that will carry his soul to him. So it shall be! So it shall it be! Now! Now!" 

Buffy watched as one of the orbs started to glow, at the same time Angel started to stir, he groaned and lifted his head. He was still wearing his vampire face. He immediately rose to his knees and started growling and yelling. "NO! Do you really think this is going to work. That Romani bitch couldn’t do it and neither will you. Release me; NOW!, do you hear me. I’m gonna rip your head off your fucking neck, do you hear me!" 

Xander and Cordelia simultaneously took two steps back. 

Even during their toughest battles Buffy had never heard Angel talk like this, never seen him this out of control. She tensed and waited to see what would happen next, if this didn’t work she would have to kill him, tonight. Was she ready for this? 

Marissa raised her hands out in front of her, she slowly spread her fingers apart, as she did they started to glow. Everyone stared at her, they hadn’t been expecting this part of the ritual, what they didn’t know is that this wasn’t part of the spell, this was part of the modifications that Brother Luca and Marissa had made. They didn’t even know if it would work or not, but there was no other way. This was their last hope. 

She spoke to Willow, "Start the chant again." 

Willow repeated the words again, and again, until her voice started to strain, she didn’t know how long she recited those same words over and over again, as Angelus screamed and roared, he fought the net savagely. He stared to weaken, then fell to his knees. Suddenly a green glow rose from the glowing orb on his left. It rose above his head, settled there for a moment, then just as suddenly it threw itself into Angelus’s body. His skin took on a soft glow for just a second then was gone. 

Suddenly he stiffened and threw his head up sharply. His eyes took on a eerie orange glow. 

"Willow, stop." Marissa said. 

Marissa started to recite a different set of words, Willow knew they weren’t Romani, she thought they sounded like latin, but yet not latin either. 

"Demon que eu o emito deste lugar, mim moldou-o para fora. Você não tem nenhum lugar aqui, este corpo não é seu, esta alma não é seu. Você não é bem-vindo - você não é querido. Eu emito-o para fora, para fora no ether, fora deste mundo. Eu moldei o sozinho e o unheard no ether. EU EMITO-O PARA FORA! " 

Marissa had recited these words over and over in her head a thousand times, she knew them backwards and forwards: 

"Demon I send you from this place, I cast you out. You have no place here, this body is not yours, this soul is not yours. You are not welcome - you are not wanted. I send you out, out into the ether, out of this world. I cast you alone and unheard into the ether. I SEND YOU OUT!." 

She repeated them over and over again, she could feel herself weakening, her limbs felt like they weighed a ton. She knew she needed her strength to hold out a little longer. She prayed in her mind, please God, please let this work. Her mouth recited the chant but her mind was repeating her prayer, its almost as if she could hear both chant and prayer echoing each other. 

All at once it seemed like every light in the world was in that room, it became so bright, but no one could tell where the bright glow was coming from. The humans had to cover their eyes it was so blinding. Just as suddenly it was gone, the library went dark, the only light remaining in the room came from Marissa, her entire body was glowing. 

"Awwwwwww." 

Every head in the room turned to stare at Angel, they could barely make his shape out in the darkness. His head was thrown back, it looked like he was frozen in place. 

The air started to crackle, you could feel the electricity. The humans could feel the static forming in their hair and on their clothes. 

A orange glow formed around Angel, unlike the green glow that had flowed out of the orb, this form came from inside of Angel. It grew in intensity, Giles raised his hands in front of him, he could feel the heat emanating from it. The form took shape over Angel’s head, its claws and fangs ripping in the air, slashing at the air around it. It threw back its ugly head and roared, at the same time Angel opened his mouth and screamed. 

"AWWWWWW!" 

Buffy had to do everything in her power not to run to him and hold him. She wanted to fight this "Thing" that had a hold of him, whatever it was that was causing him pain. 

Willow and Cordelia covered their ears, Willow suddenly felt like she wanted to cry, she had never heard anything like Angel’s scream, it was like he was being ripped apart from the inside out, she would never forget the sound of that scream, ever. 

For the first time in his life, Xander pitied Angel, even the hate he felt for him was not enough for him to wish this kind of pain on anyone. Not even deadboy. 

Oz stood mesmerized, he knew he should be afraid being this close to whatever that was hanging over Angel’s head. But he was also fascinated by what was going on in front of him, he couldn’t take his eyes off of....it. 

Once again Marissa’s voice could be heard above the roar, repeating the chant one last time, her strength was at its end. 

"Demon que eu o emito deste lugar, mim moldou-o para fora. Você não tem nenhum lugar aqui, este corpo não é seu, esta alma não é seu. Você não é bem-vindo - você não é querido. Eu emito-o para fora, para fora no ether, fora deste mundo. Eu moldei o sozinho e o unheard no ether. EU EMITO-O PARA FORA! " 

It looked as if the beast had won, Angel’s voice was gone, only the sound of the entity. Suddenly the orb to the right of the circle started to glow a bight brilliant orange. Everyone watched as the beast was sucked into the orb. Angel fell to the ground, lifeless. Marissa collapsed. 

The room went dark. 

  

Chapter IX 

Giles was the first to reacted, he ran and turned the lights on. 

Lights flared in the library, everyone else was still frozen where they stood. 

Buffy was the first to react, she ran to Angel’s side and started to lift the net. Subconsciously she kept her stake at the ready. Even though she was worried about Angel her slayer skills were still in effect. She tried to pull the net off of him, but no matter how hard she pulled it wouldn’t budge. 

Marissa lifted her head from the floor and saw what Buffy was trying to do, she slowly raised her right hand, once again a soft white glow flowed from her fingers, Buffy watched her and suddenly understood. She had done something to the net, that is why Angelus couldn’t remove it. She pulled again, the net moved like it weighed nothing. She threw it to the side completely off of him. 

"Wait" Marissa whispered. 

Giles moved to her side. 

"What?" Giles asked her. 

"The orb... smash the orb." she said. They could barely hear her voice. 

"Which one?" Willow asked. She had knelt by Angel on the opposite side of Buffy. 

She raised her hand and pointed to the orange glowing orb to the right of the circle. 

Giles crawled on his hands and knees, reached out and picked up the glowing glass. He could feel the heat burning his fingers. He raised his arm and hurled the orb to the floor, it shattered in hundreds of tiny shards. Flames rose from it on impact. Giles threw himself away from the fire. 

"Angel....is Angel...ok?" Marissa croaked out. 

Buffy and Willow both turned to the man laying on the floor between them. He was not moving, was he dead? 

The three remaining Scoobies moved closer, they still weren’t sure of what they had just witnessed. 

"Is he ok?" Marissa asked again. If he was dead it would mean she did it all for nothing, 

Both Willow and Buffy suddenly reared back as Angel arched his body into a tight bow. 

"What?" Marissa asked. 

His mouth suddenly opened and he drew a huge breath of air into his lungs. His body relaxed back down to the floor. 

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Xander screamed. 

"He breathed" Giles stated. 

"He can’t breathe, he’s dead." Xander stammered. 

"He’s "alive." Buffy said. 

"What?" Cordelia said. 

Willow turned to Giles and shouted "He IS breathing, he’s breathing air, just like you and me, he’s breathing, he’s ALIVE!" 

"No, this can’t be possible, he’s a vampire...isn’t he? Buffy looked towards Giles. 

"He WAS a vampire, now he is a mortal again" Marissa pulled herself into a sitting position. Her face reflected Willow’s, she was wearing a huge grin. "It worked, the modifications worked!" 

"But....how?" Giles asked her. 

Buffy sat and watched the man she loved gulping in air for the first time in over 200 years. 

"The orbs, one carried his soul back to him, the other drew the demon out of him and into the orb." Marissa explained. " When you smashed the second orb you destroyed the demon, it is gone. It can not harm him ever again." 

"You can’t be serious!" Spike spoke from the doorway. 

Buffy didn’t even take the time to think, she just reacted. She was across the floor with the stake in her hand before anyone had time to move. 

Spike was so involved in the fact that Marissa was here and that Angel was a human again he didn’t even think about defense. 

Marissa screamed, "NOOOOOOO!" 

Buffy embedded the stake in Spikes chest before anyone could move. 

Luckily for Spike she hadn’t been thinking, it missed its mark, hitting him more to the right then her main target. But the pain drove Spike to his knees, "Damn slayer, did you have to do that?" He was unconscious before he hit the floor. 

Marissa crawled across the floor and grabbed the stake embedded in Spike’s chest. Buffy reached out to stop her. But when she saw the look on Marissa’s face she stepped back. Buffy didn’t fear much in life, but at this moment she feared Marissa. The look on the women’s face was dangerous, more feral than Buffy had ever seen. 

"Get away from him. You have to get Angel out of here, take him back to the loft. I will follow with William." Marissa knew she had to pull the stake out slowly, if she left any splinters of wood in his chest, he wouldn’t heal. 

"You don’t expect us to take Spike with us do you?" Xander asked her. 

"Boy, we take both." Marissa said. 

"Hey, just because we listened to you when....." 

"Xander, shut-up" Buffy didn’t understand what was going on here, but she knew she owed this woman Angel’s life. And if she wanted them to take Spike with them, they were taking Spike with them. 

part 3 

by bec 

  

Chapter X 

Marissa sat by the cot they had brought in and set up in the room, she watched William sleep. Every so often he would jerk or groan. She wished she could take his pain, or at least help him fight it. She silently admonished herself for even thinking that, she should hate him, not want to console him. But she couldn’t, she had tried, when he had left her with Angel she had wanted to hate him so much. But no matter how many times she had tried, hate wasn’t the emotion that came to her mind. The hate was pushed away by the love. That is the only emotion she felt when thinking about him. He was part of her; no matter what happened in her life, he would always be a part of it. 

He jerked again, rattling the handcuffs that held his left leg and right wrist to the bars of the cot. They may trust her, but they weren’t taking any chances with Spike. And she really could not blame them, could she? She knew he had been terrorizing Buffy and her friends. They thought as humans, they could never realize what changes took place in a mind taken over by a demon. Even though her demon was weak, it was still a demon, she did not condone what the demon did, but she understood it. Far better than any human ever could. Spike could no more reject the demon’s thoughts than he could ignore the bloodlust that went along with it. Spike could be devious and downright tactical when it came to feeding, but she knew he did not relish in it as Angelus had. 

The three women were the only ones left at the apartment, Cordelia and Oz had gone home to rest. Xander and Giles were making a trip to the market to buy food that Angel would need when he woke. It had taken a lot of arguing on the woman’s part so that the men would let them alone with the two unconscious men, but because of Marissa’s powers they finally agreed that the girls would be safe. Marissa had told them to keep the food light, soups, juices and crackers. Angel wouldn’t be ready to eat anything solid for awhile. 

She looked at the bed where Angel lay, Buffy was laying cold compresses on his forehead, trying to fight the fever that had enveloped him as soon as they had gotten him comfortable. Buffy glanced up at Marissa; she spoke softly, "Thank you". 

"You do not have to thank me, just love him, promise me that. He deserves to be loved, it is time for him to stop feeling guilty for what the demon has done. It is not going to be easy for you, you know that. With the demon gone for good I do not know how he will react. But I do know one thing; he will need you, now more than ever. He will fight you all the way but you have to be strong." 

"I don’t know if I’m strong enough." Buffy laid her hand on Angel’s cheek, she could feel the heat rising from him. She reached down and straightened the blankets that were securely wrapped around his body. No matter how many layers they heaped on him, he continued to shake. Moans would escape his lips every few moments. Marissa could see the pain appear in Buffy’s eyes at every little sounds he made. 

"Your wrong, that is the first thing I recognized in you-- your strength --it runs deep in you. Marissa looked down at William again. "They are always talking about woman being the weaker sex. Their wrong, dead wrong. Woman have always had to be the strong ones , men have always been traipsing off to somewhere or another and we are left behind to pick up the pieces. To find riches, war, glory. It is always one reason or another. It is one of the constants of the world. Woman are always the ones left behind to clean up the messes, take care of the home, the children, the emotions. It does not matter what the year is, or the country. I believe God made us strong to survive in this world. 

"Is that what you have been doing, surviving?" Buffy spoked quietly, never taking her eyes off of Angel. 

Willow moved to stand by the foot of the cot, Buffy looked across at the older woman. Marissa smiled. Buffy noticed it was a sad smile, the kind you felt deep down in your soul. 

Marissa turned to the two woman "Not at first, I was pathetic back then. I could do nothing for myself, first William protected me, then Angel. Angel is the one who showed me I could survive. He taught me everything, how to live in this world between the light and the dark. How to survive without hurting anyone. 

Buffy couldn’t contain herself any longer " How did you meet Angel?" 

"I met Angelus first, I was one of the little games that he liked to play on people. He wanted to punish William for something; I never did find out what. He came to our village and sought me out. Told me he had news of William. I did not know that Angelus and Druscilla had taken William away from me. I did not know what had happened to him. When Angelus told me he knew where William was and that he could take me to him, I fell right into his trap. He waited until we were alone and he...... he murdered me. I woke up in William’s arms, I did not understand what was happening. He explained everything to me, what I was and why. 

"Marissa, do you have a soul, like Angel did?" Willow ask the question that had been in the front of her mind for hours. 

"No, Brother Luca and I have tried to figure out exactly what I am, but we could not come up with any reasonable explanation. Brother Luca explains it like this. I am like a child born with a deformity. This "deformity" has kept the demon from completely taking control of my human side. But it has not stopped the hunger for blood. I still need to feed on blood to survive. 

"So you knew Spike before he was a vampire?" Buffy asked. 

"Yes, he worked in my father’s stables on our estate in England." Marissa smiled. "He was wonderful with the horses, he could do anything with them." 

"Wait -- Spike was a stableboy?" Buffy laughed. 

Marissa looked at her with indignation, "yes he was and a damn fine one." 

Buffy laughed harder, then the laughter infected Willow. Marissa looked from Buffy to Willow then to William. She too started to laugh. The three woman laughed until they had tears running down their faces. 

"A stableboy, who would have thought that Spike was a stableboy." Willow giggled. 

"He does not seem the type now to have done that kind of work, but in the 1800's it was respectable work." Marissa said wiping the tears from her eyes. 

"Oh, its still respectable today, but I just can’t see Spike cleaning out horse stalls." Buffy said. 

"Well; to tell you the truth he could usually talk one of the younger boys into doing that kind of work, he mostly worked with the horses. Like I said he could make a horse do anything he wanted it to." Marissa looked at William again. 

"You love him don’t you?" Willow asked. 

Marrisa looked at William lying on the cot, she thought a few moments then finally answered Willow. "Sometimes I think I hate him." Marissa knew she was lying to herself, but the words felt good. "He promised me that he would always be there for me, then he abandoned me with Angel. I finally came to understand that this was the only way he could keep me alive, I was slowly dying in his world. Mentally and physically," Marissa continued "Druscilla did like her little games too much to even think about letting me alone, she constantly harrassed me. Just stopping short of torture, she did not want to push William too far. After Angel’s soul was restored she knew that William was her only protection. But then I think of the William I first met. He was alive and full of life. I loved him since I was a child. When we first met I was only 11. I was an only child and my parents were not around very much. They preferred their life in society in London. They often left me alone on our estate in the country. I would follow William around everywhere, and he was nice to me, he did not treat me like a child. When I was fifteen he finally noticed that I was not a child anymore." 

Marissa wondered why she felt comfortable talking to these young humans, she had never shared so much before, not even with Angel. "Once we snuck off to a fair that had set up in a meadow close to the estate. I purchase a belt buckle with a Celtic design on it for his birthday. He bought me a locket with the same design. A few weeks later on his birthday I gave him the belt and he gave me the locket. We took one look at them and started laughing. Then he stopped laughing; then kissed me and from that day forward we were inseparable." 

"I have a stupid question." Willow stated. 

"No question is stupid, what do you want to know?" Marissa asked. 

"Well....what’s Spike’s real hair color?" Willow asked. 

"What color is his hair? Willow that is a stupid question." Buffy laughed. 

Marissa reached up and pulled on a silver chain hanging around her neck, she lifted her hair off her shoulders and pulled the chain threw the long locks. She looked down into her hands at the locket that rested there. She traced her fingers over the design on the front. It hadn’t been opened in over 50 years, she opened it slowly, she was afraid to look, afraid that after all this time there would be nothing there. She looked down; smiled and handed the locket to Willow. 

Willow took the locket and looked into it. There, tied together with a tiny piece of string were two curls; one black as night the other a reddish brown with golden highlights. 

"He’s a redhead too," Willow laughed. 

Angel gave Buffy a ring." Willow exuberantly announced. "A claddagh." 

"Angel gave you a claddagh ring?" Marissa questioned Buffy. 

"Yes, well; before he changed. He said it stood for friendship, loyalty and devotion." Buffy said as she looked back at Angel lying on the bed. 

"It stands for more than that, it is a true sign of his love." Marissa said "Did you know that the claddagh is the Irish Wedding Band?" 

"Wow...double wow." Willow said "You mean he thinks of Buffy as his wife?" 

"Yes, if he gave you a claddagh ring then in his mind you are married." 

Buffy couldn’t think about that right now, she couldn’t handle anymore on her plate at the moment so she decided to change the subject. Later; she would think about what Marissa had told her, later when things were more calm. 

"What are you going to do when he wakes up?" Buffy glanced at Spike. She knew that Marissa had cleared all traces of the stake from Spike’s chest. His chest was covered with a large white bandage, his wound would heal quickly. He had been unconscious for almost 23 hours, the sun was setting soon and he would wake up. What type of reaction they could expect was anybodies guess. 

"I do not know, he will probably return to Druscilla." Marissa calmly said. 

"And how does that make you feel?" Willow asked. 

Buffy knew that Marissa was not ready to answer that question, so she intervened. "Ok, Dr. Joyce Brothers time for you to sleep, how long have the two of you been awake, what? About 48 hours. Why don’t you lay down and I’ll watch over these two sleepy heads. Ok" 

"But what about you, your just as tired as we are?" Willow questioned Buffy. 

"I had a full nights sleep, well a slayers full nights sleep right before all this happened, you two didn’t, close your eyes. I’ll keep watch." Buffy handled them both blankets from a stack that they had carried in with them." 

She sat and watched the sleeping figures and tried to figure out what came next. 

************************ 

Druscilla paced back and forth in her garden, none of the other vampires would come near here, she was in a rare mood. Usually Spike or Angelus were there to control her rages but no one had seen them for more than 24 hours. And none of them wanted to deal with her, not when she was like this. 

She felt like she was going to explode; something was happening but she didn’t know what. She felt it running up and down her body. Like electricity. Suddenly she stopped and fell to her knees she mumbled a unknown language over and over again like a chant. Then she froze and threw her head back and let out a bloodcurdling scream. "NOOOOOOOOO!" 

She fought her way back to reality slowly. Babbling the whole time..... "the light, she has brought the light back. NO, she has pulled them both into the light with her." She raised her eyes to the stars and screamed.... "ANGELUS!" 

  

Chapter XI 

Giles knocked on the door softly, Buffy opened the door a few seconds later. 

"How is everything going?" he asked as he stepped into the apartment carrying paperbags with the local market’s name on them. 

"Well, as you can see all the children are still napping." Buffy held her hands out towards the four sleeping people. 

"Good; Willow and Marissa need the rest." Giles said. 

"As you can see we bought the store out" Xander said as he set his bags down next to the two bags Giles had placed on the table. 

"How’s Angel?" Giles asked her. 

"His temperature is still high, but Marissa says that’s to be expected, after everything he’s been through" Buffy answered. 

"We bought some aspirin for him...well actually it was Xander’s ideal." Giles reached into one of the bags and drew out a small bottle. 

Buffy looked at Xander and smiled "You actually thought of it?" 

Xander shrugged his shoulders "Well I certainly don’t want to deal with him if he wakes up with a headache. And if what we saw yesterday doesn’t give him a headache, nothing will." 

"I’m amazed you would do something like that for him" Buffy smiled. 

"Hey, I’d buy aspirin for anyone who went through that. I still can’t believe what happened. I mean did that really happen?" Xander asked. 

"Yeah, it happened, I think we’re all still in shock over it, what I want to know is why didn’t Marissa tell us what she was going to do, why keep it a secret?" Buffy asked. 

Giles looked at her and said "I don’t really think Marissa herself knew if the modifications were going to work, and if they hadn’t worked we would still have Angel with a soul. Would we have been so willing if we had known about her plan to return his mortality to him?" 

Buffy nodded her head "Your right, I don’t know if I would have chanced it. Knowing that she was going to be dragging his demon out like that, I don’t know, I might not have let her put all of you in danger like that." 

"I apologize for that" Marissa said from her chair. 

All three heads turned to look at her at once. 

"We’re sorry we didn’t mean to wake you" Giles said. 

"It is fine, I am a light sleeper" Marissa stood and stretched. 

Xander watched as her dress stretched acrossed her breast. 

Buffy elbowed him. 

"Hey, what was that for" Xander quipped. 

"Cordi’s not here to do it, so I thought I would" Buffy laughed. 

Marissa stepped around the chair and walked to the table, she started pulling items out of the bags. She drew a box out and just looked at it. 

"I thought I said light, boy" Marissa turned to Xander. 

"Those are mine, thank you very much" Xander snatched the box of Ho Ho’s out of her hands. "You know I’m really getting sick of hearing you say "boy" in that tone of voice all the time" He turned away and started unwrapping the cupcakes. 

"Yes, Marissa your going to have to change your tone when speaking to Xander, look what he brought Angel" Buffy held up the aspirin. 

Marissa took the aspirin and looked at Xander, "You bought these for Angel?" 

"Hey I didn’t do it for dead boy, I did it for me, I just don’t want to hear him complain about all his aches and pains when he wakes up, that’s all, don’t go reading anything into this, ok." Xander took a bite of the cake. 

She could hear the defensiveness in his voice, he didn’t want anyone to think he had actually thought about Angel’s welfare. 

Marissa smiled, "He is not "dead boy" anymore...and thank you for getting the medicine...Xander." 

Xander nodded his head towards her and kept on chewing. He didn’t even understand himself why he bought the medicine, and he didn’t want to analyze it either. So he decided to change the subject. "So what are we going to do with Spike?" 

"When he wakes up we let him go" Marissa didn’t look up as she said this, she just kept unpacking the bags. 

"No, see you don’t understand how this works, Buffy is the Slayer, the Slayer slays, she slays vampire’s, Spike is a vampire. Get it?" Xander said. 

"Xander" Buffy warned. 

"We should be fine, he’s handcuffed to the cot. I don’t think after being staked he will have the strength to break out of them, not yet at least" Giles said. 

"You could always use those powers of yours to zap him" Xander said to Marissa. 

"I do not "zap" people" Marissa said "the first rule of the Wiccan Arts is never harm. So unless he attacks one of us, we do not harm him, do you understand bo...Xander?" 

"How long have you been studying the arts?" Giles said ignoring Xander completely. He usually ignored him, he found it the only effective way to cut the boy off. 

Marissa started putting the food away with Buffy’s help. She decided to leave one of the soups in the red and white cans out, just incase Angel would waken soon. He would be ravenous, he hadn’t eaten anything for over 200 years. His body would need the nutrition. 

"I have been studying under Brother Luca for over 5 years now. He was Janna’s instructor, he said I have a "natural talent" for it." Marissa said. "He himself was taught by one of the leading white wiccans in Europe. The only reason he did not perform the ritual is because of his age." 

"Can you teach me," Buffy asked her, " it would be great if I could just hit’em with that light and still have time to do my homework." 

Marissa turned to look at the teenager, "The Wiccan Arts are not something you learn over night, it usually takes a very long time to learn everything you need to know. But like I said, Brother Luca said I was exceptionally good at picking things up very quickly" 

"I don’t think I have a long time left in me" Buffy said "so I guess that leaves me out." 

Marissa smiled at her "Oh I think you have a lot of time left, your stronger than any Slayer in history, you might surprise yourself." 

"What, do you have a crystal ball too?" Buffy joked with her. 

"Maybe" she said. 

"So what happens when Angel wakes up?" Giles questioned. 

Buffy turned to look at Angel while the others discussed this, she was coming down from all the excitement and was starting to worry about the exact same thing, what was Angel going to be like when he woke? How would he react to being human after 200 plus years. She wasn’t sure if she could handle this. She admitted to herself what her biggest worries where, would he still love her. Or would being human change his feelings for her? 

"I am not sure how he will react, this has never been accomplished before." Marissa said. "Every vampire that this has been tried on has...." 

Marissa looked down at her hands. 

"What?" Buffy asked. "What happened to them?" 

Giles knew what was coming. He knew Buffy wasn’t going to be happy with the answer. 

"They died" Marissa said. "They all died." 

Buffy’s eyes looked like they were ready to pop out of her head, "What! You tried this on Angel knowing that he could have died?" She had forgotten the fear she had felt from this woman right after the spell was completeed. 

"Did you want to go on fighting Angelus," Marissa looked into the girls eyes, " did you want Angel to watch day in and day out as Angelus destroyed you and all your friends, he would not have wanted that and you know it." 

Buffy knew that the woman was right, but she couldn’t stop thinking that she could have lost him. 

"You could have warned us?" Buffy cried. 

"And have you back out because of the consequences, no I was going to do this with or without you, remember" Marissa told her. 

Buffy looked back at Angel, they could barely hear her whisper "I could have lost him." 

Marissa raised her hand and slowly ran it down Buffy’s hair "But you did not, he is here and he is alive." 

"Is he going to be all right?" Buffy asked her as the tears started to well up in her eyes. 

"He is going to need all of you," Marissa said "he will need your love and your friendship." She turned to include Giles and Xander in her statement. 

"We will do everything possible" Giles said. 

Xander just nodded and said "Whatever." 

Marissa and Buffy looked at him and then at each other and laughed. 

"You should go and wash your face, you do not want him seeing your tears when he wakes up" Marissa said. "And we will finish putting these groceries away." 

Buffy nodded and headed to the bathroom. 

"Did you speak with Brother Luca?" Marissa asked Giles. 

"Yes, we had a very interesting conversation," Giles answered her. "I told him what has transpired here, he actually chuckled, he said he had no doubts that you could make it work." 

"Then his belief was stronger than mine" she said. "I was not sure if it would work or not." 

"Well, according to Brother Luca, you can part the seas" Giles chuckled. 

"Did he want me to call him?" Marissa asked. 

"Giles wouldn’t look at her face when he answered, "No he said nothing to me about you calling him." He had another message to pass on but not to Marissa. 

"Are you finished eating your cupcakes, bo...Xander?" Marissa caught herself at the last moment. 

"Yup, all done" Xander chewed and spoke at the same time. He laid the empty box on the table. 

Marissa picked up the box and just stared at it. "It is empty, you ate every cupcake?" 

"Hey I’m a growing boy" Xander said, "and I use the term boy loosely." 

Marissa was hoping to sneak a pack of the cakes across the hall into the other apartment she had found. She had watched him eating the dessert, and was hoping to sample them herself. It had been quite awhile since she had indulged herself. 

"But all at once?" she growled at him. 

"Well it’s not as if I had to share them with you, your a vamp you don’t eat them." Xander sheepishly said. 

"Well, ah...well maybe Willow or Buffy would have liked one." Marissa said. 

Xander shrugged, "Well, they know how much I love them." 

Marissa looked back into the remaining bags on the table, nothing; no sweets of any kind. Oh well, she wondered if she had time before William or Angel woke up to sneak down to one of the corner mini-markets that were everywhere in America. Just as she turned to look, she got a tinglie feeling up and down her spine. She realized that William was awake and was listening to them talk. 

  

Chapter XII 

"Are you going to lay there and pretend to be asleep or are you going to come and join the conversation?" Marissa said out loud. 

Spike knew she was speaking to him, with the humans he could pretend to be asleep and they wouldn’t know any different. But Marissa would sense that he was awake, he had been wondering when she would call him on it. 

"Well luv, since boy wonder ate all the fancy little cakes, who’s left for me to eat?" Spike spoke as he tried to sit up. He knew they had his right wrist handcuffed to the cot, but he wasn’t expecting the one on his left ankle. As he tried to throw his feet onto the floor, he lost his balance and the cot started to tip over, Giles and Marissa both moved to try and stop it. They didn’t make it. 

Spike went sprawling onto the floor with the cot on top of him. It wasn’t a dignified position. He started yanking on the metal rods, "Get me out of this thing, I’m not going to try anything. I realize that there would be stakes all over the place if I did, so just let me out of these blasted things." 

The bathroom door was thrown open and Buffy came out in full attack mode; a stake in her hand. 

Spike noticed the stake and spoke quickly, "Now Slayer, are you going to stake me twice in one day for doing nothing." Buffy saw what was making all the noise and started laughing, Xander joined her. 

The noise woke Willow up. She sat up and crawled over the top of the chair in one fluid movement. 

Marissa pulled on one end of the cot and Giles grabbed the other, they flipped it over and set it down on the floor. 

"You are always doing things that grab everyone’s attention" Marissa spoke as if she wasn’t effected by having William so near. And she thought she was doing a damn fine job of it too. "And you’ve been asleep for over 24 hours now, it wouldn’t be the same day." 

"Well you know me, pet" Spike tried to sound as dignified as one can possible be while handcuffed to a bed and at the same time control the urge to snap the handcuffs and rip out the slayer and her little friends throats. "If there is a pretty woman in the room I can’t help but draw their attention." 

"Yes, I do know you William" Marissa said quietly. 

She reached out and removed the handcuff on his ankle, then threw the key to him, he could remove the other one himself. 

As he straightened Marissa moved away. He could feel her tension no matter how far away she moved. It suddenly hit him that she wasn’t as unaffected as he had thought she was. She was nervous about being near him. That thought shook him to his knees, could she still care about him? After everything he had done to her, lying to her, abandoning her with Angel, all the promises he had made, broken like they meant nothing. Could she forgive him? Could he forgive himself? 

He decided that now was not the time to ask. He removed the other hand-cuff and stood up. He looked down at his chest and started to removed the bandage. "Where are my shirt and coat?" 

Giles moved to hand him the clothing, but at the same time not getting to close. 

"Thank you." Spike threw the wrapping onto the cot and took the articles of clothing and started to pull his arms through the sleeves of his shirt. He had a million questions he wanted to ask, but didn’t know where to start. He wanted to talk to Marissa alone, but he knew that it was too soon, for her and for him. He looked over at Angel and chuckled to himself. 

"So the blighter is human again?" he asked. "Where in the hell did you learn to do that?" 

"I have learned a lot of things in the past few decades, things that would amaze even the great and powerful Spike" Marissa said. 

Spike winced, she had never called him Spike, not even when he walked away from her. Maybe it would be best if he just got the hell out of here. He grabbed the coat and started to move towards the door. "Well I guess your not going to fill me in on those amazing things are you? So I think its time for me to go." He opened the door and turned back towards the slayer and her friends. "Well its been fun people, we’ll have to get together again real soon." He looked at Marissa, she was facing the other way. 

The humans looked between the two vampires, waiting to see if either one of them would go on with the charade of acting as if nothing had happened. Neither spoke again. 

Spike turned and headed out the door, closing it behind him. 

Giles turned and said, "I’ll just make sure he has...um..left, I’ll be right back. He quickly opened the door and saw the outer door swing shut, he reached for it before Spike could close it the whole way. 

"Spike, wait." Giles said. 

Spike turned at the sound of the man’s voice. "What the hell do you want Watcher?" 

Giles didn’t understand why he was doing this, but he had been asked to deliver a message, and he would deliver it. "I have a message for you." 

"From Marissa?" He asked. His face actually lite up at the thought of her wanting to speak with him. 

"Well no, actually its from her...." what the hell was Brother Luca to her Giles thought to himself. "...ah...from her teacher." 

"Her teacher, who the hell is that?" Spike didn’t understand any of this, he just wanted to get the hell away from here. 

"A man by the name of Brother Luca." Giles said. 

"What does he want from me?" Spike asked. 

"He wanted me to pass on a message, your to call this number" Giles handled the vampire a piece of paper. 

Spike took the paper and glanced at the number that was written on it. 

"He said if you cared about Marissa at all, you would call" Giles said. 

"Whatever," Spike shoved the paper into his pocket and turned and walked away. 

Giles wonder, not for the first time, why would Brother Luca want to talk to Spike? But he also knew he wouldn’t get any answers from the vampire. He went back inside with the others. 

Xander was folding up the cot and shoving it up against the wall, out of the way for now, he’d have to return it to his house later tonight. "Well, we’ll have to thank Spike for the comic relief, next time we see him, which I hope is never." 

"Yeah right, its Sunnydale, don’t worry we’ll see him again." Buffy said. 

"That’s why I’m worried" Giles said, "he left too quietly for me." "Why didn’t he try to attack us, or more important why didn’t he stop us from doing the ritual?" 

"Why would he not want Angelus gone," Marissa said. "With Angelus out of the way he has Druscilla all to himself again." And he could not wait to get back to her, Marissa thought to herself. 

Willow watched the woman and wondered what was going through her mind, did she still love Spike, or did her love for him die over the last few decades? But she wouldn’t ask Marissa about that, it was too personal. She understood what it felt like to love someone who didn’t return that love. 

"Well, whatever, I’m just glad he’s gone, now all we have to worry about is Angel." Xander said. "Is he gonna want to kill us when he’s awake, not something I am looking forward to." 

All eyes turned to the sleeping form on the bed, he was tossing and turning again, Buffy moved to the bed and laid her hand on his cheek, it was still pretty hot to the touch. "When is the fever going to go down?" She raised her eyes to Marissa. 

"It should go down soon, sooner if we get these aspirin into him" she picked up the bottle and removed the lid. She shook out 2 of the capsules and turned to get a glass of water. 

Willow had already anticipated her wants and handed her the glass. "Thank you." Marissa said smiling at the redhead. 

"Your welcome." Willow smiled back. "What is going to happen when Angel wakes up?" 

"He is going to be very disorganized, very confused. It has been over 200 years since he was human." Marissa stated. "But, he is strong, with all our help he will get through it." 

  

Chapter XIII 

Spike entered the mansion, he knew something was wrong the minute he stepped through the front doors, none of his minions would look him in the eye. The all found things to do as soon as he entered. He looked around until he spotted one of this upper echelon, Spike tried to remember his name, Cyrus; that was it. "Cyrus what the hell is going on?" 

Cyrus looked into his Master’s face, he didn’t want this job, didn’t ask for it and he sure as hell didn’t want to be the one who had to tell Spike that Druscilla had gone crazy and tore up the garden. And had killed three of the new fledglings that Spike had just cultivated. They hadn’t even finished their training yet. "Damn, boss I don’t want to be the one who has to tell you this but..." 

"What?" Spike questioned harshly. He could see that nobody wanted to be the one to tell him, but he wasn’t up for this tonight. Druscilla! Whatever the hell happened it had to be Druscilla. Spike especially didn’t want to play any of Dru’s games now. At one time coming home and seeing all of his minions running scared like this would have given him some entertainment, but not now, he had to many damn things on his mind tonight. 

"What the hell did Dru do now?" Spike said. "Come on, just spit it out.... NOW! 

Cyrus jumped as Spike yelled. "Ah, well she freaked, went crazy, started yelling Angelus’s name. Shrieking, running all around tearing things up, you remember that nice set of patio chairs you had, the ones that matched the table, well their...ah...well...." He didn’t realized that with every word he spoke, he took a step back from the older vampire. 

"Cyrus, if you think I give a rats ass about those chairs, think again, either tell me what the hell happened or I’m gonna rip out your heart and let you watch me eat it." Spike was quickly loosing the small amount of patience he had. "What exactly did she say about Angelus?" 

"She said that he was gone, that you had let them take him. Is it true boss, is Angelus gone again?" The man was too scared to notice that now was not a good time to question Spike. 

Spike turned and started walking toward the staircase. "Where is she, is she in her room?" 

"No, she ah....well, she dug a hole in the garden and is out there laying in it right now." Cyrus said. 

"What!" Spike stopped and stared at the other vampire. Shit, he didn’t need this crap, not now. He moved toward the double doors that lead into the garden. When he turned to question Cyrus again, the hall was empty. Not a single vampire in sight. "Big vicious vampires, yeah right." He turned back towards the doors and entered the garden. He saw the hole immediately, smack dab in the middle of the garden right in front of the water fountain. He walked over and looked down into the hole, he could barely see her, she had covered herself with loose dirt. "Druscilla what the hell are you doing down there?" 

A hand separated itself from the shape in the hole. One sharped talon finger pointed directly at Spike. "You will die for what you have done tonight. Die. Just like the rest of them, my friend will kill you all." The finger withdrew back into the hole. 

Spike watched her for a few minutes, then decided the hell with her, and the hell with all of these losers. He slowly turned and walked out of the mansion. He didn’t know where he was headed, but right now anywhere but here was fine with him. 

*************** 

"Hold him down!" Marissa’s voice rose above all the yelling and screaming. She was leaning over the bed along with Giles and Buffy, "Xander grab his legs." 

Xander joined the others trying to hold Angel down. "Why’s he doing this?" 

"How would you react if you were dead for over 200 years and suddenly your internal organs were suddenly all operatable again." Marissa explained. "His body is going through severe changes and his brain does not know how to handle it." 

Everything had been quiet in the apartment, Willow, Oz and Xander had been playing cards, Giles was trying to catch up on his journals. Cordelia had just started putting the second coat of polish on her nails. Buffy had fallen asleep on the floor beside Angel. Suddenly he had started to moan and thrash around. He had almost rolled on top of Buffy, luckily she had caught him in time and pushed his body back onto the bed. The three members of the Scooby Gang stood and watched as the other four tried to stop Angel from hurting himself. Then the screams had started, agonizing screams that made Willow cover her ears. 

Suddenly the door was pushed open and Spike came rushing into the room, expecting to find the humans dead or on their way to hell. He expected to find Angelus ripping them apart. But what he found was the slayer and her friends trying to hold Angel down. He reached across all of them and put both hands on his shoulders and pressed Angel down onto the mattress. 

Marissa took that moment to try and control the situation. "Willow rip those sheets apart, we need something to tie him down with." 

Willow grabbed the sheets they had used on the cot and started ripping and between the seven of them they got him tied securely to the bed. His screams had diminished to moans. Finally he fell into a deep sleep again. Buffy reached up and laid her hand against his cheek. "His fever has broken, he’s sweating." 

"What does that mean?" Xander asked. 

Marissa smiled, "that means he is starting to heal. It should not be long now before he wakens." 

And then we teach him how to live in the world of light again." 

Eyeing Spike, Giles asked suspiciously "What are you doing back here?" 

"I wanted to let you know that Drucilla knows what you’ve done here." Spike said. 

"You couldn’t wait to run and tell her could you?" Buffy accused. 

Spike stared at her "I didn’t have to tell her, she knows before things happens. 

"And you came to warn us?" Xander sneered. "How nice. And why would you want to warn us, its not exactly something you would do normally. I’m surprised your not with her planning something." 

Spike didn’t answer, he had no answer, why did he come back here? He didn’t even have a answer for himself, how could he answer the humans. 

He turned to the dark haired boy and sneered, "I came to warn Rissa, not you, I could care less what happens to you." 

"Thank you," Marissa said. She turned and started picking up the blankets that had been knocked to the floor. "You have warned me, is there anything else?" 

She never even looked at him. Spike turned and walked out the door. As soon as the door was shut he slammed his fist into the wall. He shoved his throbbing hands into his coat pockets and leaned against the wall. He felt the paper crinkling against his skin. He pulled the paper out into the light and saw the telephone number written on it. He turned and strode out the door. 

  

Chapter XIV 

Spike listened to the phone ring for the third time, he quickly hung the phone up again. he thought. He turned and walked away from the phone booth, this was crazy, what the hell was happening to him. 

He dropped to the curb and hung his head in his hands. He knew what was wrong with him, Marissa. He never thought he’d see her again. This was all too much for him to handle, he didn’t want to think about it, didn’t know how to handle it. She was part of his past, part of the world he had left behind him. He could remember the last time he saw her, standing there staring at him..... 

"But why here?" Marissa questioned him. "Why with him?" She nodded her head toward the doorway, Spike could barely make out the shape of Angel. 

Spike turned back toward’s Marissa, he gently ran his hand down her face. "It’s only for a little while baby. I’ll be back before you know it. Angel is different now, he won’t hurt you, trust me." 

Marissa rubbed her cheek against his hand, a single blood red tear was running down her face, "I do, I will always trust you, William you know that." 

Spike looked away from her, he couldn’t stand looking in her eyes and asking her to trust him, knowing that he wasn’t planning on coming back. "I’ll be back in a week, maybe a little longer, ok" he turned and walked away from her, he didn’t look back, he couldn’t. If he did, he would never do it, never leave her here, leave her here waiting for him to return to her. He had lied, he wasn’t planning on coming back, but he couldn’t tell her that. He stepped through the door and saw Angel standing on the other side of the threshold. 

"So, your dumping her here with no explanation?" Angel asked. 

Spike took a cigarette out of his shirt pocket and lit it. He puffed once, then twice, drawing the smoke into his lungs, lungs that wouldn’t take in the tar and nicotine that usually invaded a humans lungs. "Just promise me you will take care of her, do you hear me?" Spike blew the smoke out in one long breath. 

Angel looked him square in the eyes and said "Do you think that this is fair to her?" 

"Yes!" Spike exclaimed. "It’s the fairest thing I could do for her, and you know it. How much longer do you think she would last in my world, Drucilla is getting out of control. What would happen if just one time I wasn’t there to protect her? Dru would hurt her without even blinking. Hell yes this is fair, its the best thing for her." 

"For her or for you?" Angel spoke quietly, he didn’t want the young girl in the other room to hear their conversation. 

"She’ll be safer here with you, you can protect her better than I can. I can’t keep fighting the others over her, how long do you think I would last, how long do you think she could?" Spike heatedly said. 

"So your just thinking about yourself....again." Angel said. 

"Yeah, Spike thinks about Spike first and foremost!" Spike threw the words at Angel. 

Angel pushed the door shut and turned to the younger vampire, "And what do I tell her in a week, or a month when you don’t return. Hell, you know your her world, she has no one else. How can you do this to her. I thought you cared about her?" 

Spike threw the cigarette to the floor and stamped it out with his boot heel, "yeah, well you were wrong, I want her gone, do you hear me. I care about me, that’s it. Oh come on Angelus, this can’t be a surprise to you, you trained me, you of all people should know the real me." 

"I thought I did," Angel said. But I guess I was wrong." He watched the other vampire turn and stared at the closed door. 

Hell, all he had to do was make it to the door and it would be over. Spike turned towards the outer door and grabbed the handle with both hands and yanked the sliding doors back, "just remember one thing Angelus". 

Angel hated when he called him that, but he didn’t say anything, he watched as Spike turned towards him again. 

"She didn’t deserve any of this, she was innocent, YOU owe her" Spike spit the words out at him, almost as if they were a curse, "You owe her, you’ll protect her won’t you, with your life?" 

Angel looked closer at the bleached blonde, he was surprised by the desperate look in Spikes eyes. 

"Promise me, you will protect her, keep her safe, you ow...... 

"I promise." Angel interrupted him. Maybe Spike did care about her, maybe he did actually want to do "right" by her. Maybe in his own way this was his way of protecting her. He watched Spike turn and walk out the door, into the night, he never looked back, not once. 

"He is not coming back, is he?" A small voice spoke from the doorway. 

Angel hung his head for a moment and then turned and looked at the girl, the girl who’s life he had destroyed, not Spike but him. "No, he’s not coming back." He watched her face for a moment, he could see the confusion running through her, he could see that she didn’t understand what was happening. 

"Why?" Marissa asked. "Why did he leave me here, and why with you? I ask him that, but he would not answer me." 

"I don’t know" Angel said. He didn’t have the answers, not the ones the girl wanted. She didn’t trust him, but hell, how could she trust him. He was the one who dragged her into this nightmare, what was it, 100, 125 years ago he had taken her life. Taken it in one of the stupid games he played with peoples lives. But at the same time he was surprised, in all the years that had gone by and she still had not lost the quality of innocence that surrounded her. When he had first "taken" her he had been surprised by her ability to retain her "human" qualities. But he knew that would end soon enough, but it never had, her demon had never "materialized" like the rest of the vampires he had known throughout his existence. He opened his mouth again; to try and give her some kind of answer but nothing came out of it. He just stood there looking at her, he didn’t have a clue as to what to do or say. She spoke before he could think of anything, and the words shocked the hell out of him. 

"Are you going to kill me?" She spoke quietly, he could barely hear her. 

"W...what?" He stuttered. 

"I know you hate me, I know that you have wanted to kill me for a very long time now." Marissa spoke calmly, there was no fear in her voice, no hesitation in her speech. 

"No, Angelus wanted to kill you, but Angelus doesn’t have control anymore. I don’t want to hurt you, I...I want to apologize to you." Angel stated. 

"For what?" Marissa didn’t understand this Angelus, she was expecting threats and goading, not a apology. She didn’t know how to handle it. 

"For this" Angel spread his hands out to encompass the warehouse they were standing in. "The world you now live in, if it wasn’t for me you would be living out there, living in the human world, out in the sun, having a family, friends...a life. Not hiding out in empty warehouses, not living in either world, the world of light or the world of darkness. That is what I apologize for." 

"Technically, I would be dead right now, long dead, just dust in a hole in the ground, if you had not....if you had not....." she didn’t quite know what word to use to describe what he had done to her. 

"Murdered you?" Angel stated boldly. "Is that what you were trying to say?" 

"Yes. I guess either way you look at it, I am a dead person." Marissa said just as boldly. 

"Yes, but I can teach you how to survive in this world, if you would let me?" Angel said. 

"Survive, is that what you do?" Marissa asked. 

"I guess that is what you would call it, I’m not a member of the human world or the dark world of the vampires either, I exist in a world of my own making. I wouldn’t exactly call it a life, but its better than what you have been living in" Angel stated. "You don’t have to kill to survive in my world." 

"I have never killed another to survive" Marissa chin came up. "I have learned to drink without taking the life of the poor souls I feed off of." 

"Well then we should get along fine, neither do I," Angel smiled for the first time since Marissa had gotten there. She thought that he didn’t look so menacing when he smiled. 

"Then your not going to kill me?" Marissa questioned again. 

"Do you want me to?" Angel smiled again. 

"No, I do not want to die." Marissa stated. She looked down at the floor as the truth hit her again, William was not coming back, he had abandoned her here, alone with Angelus, but yet it wasn’t Angelus, she was still confused but she wasn’t as terrified as she had been earlier. For some strange reason she believed him, and more, she even trusted him. She didn’t understand, but at this point she was too tired to care. 

Angel could see the exhaustion on her face, "Your tired, why don’t you rest and then we’ll continue our talk?" Angel said. He turned to lead her through the single door, "there are some small rooms in the back, there’s a bed for you to rest in." 

Rest, yes she needed to rest, even though he had never answered her question on why William had left her, she would rest, collect her thoughts and emotions and then she would think about it, think about how she was all alone now, think about how easy William had left her with a lie on his lips. 

*********************** 

Spike stood up and headed to the phone booth one last time, he still didn’t understand why he was doing this, but lately he didn’t understand a lot of things. He dialed the phone and heard the ringing again, after 2 or 3 rings the phone was answered and he heard the operator ask if the other party would except a collect call from "Spike". 

"Oh my, yes, I will except operator, thank you." A male voice on the other end said. 

"Spike, is that you, or should I call you William?" The voice questioned. 

Spike shook his head, wondering for a second if he should just hang up the phone, what the fuck was he thinking. 

"Spike..er...William are you there?" The voice ask again. 

"Yes, I’m here, call me whatever you like, what the hell do you want?" Spike bit out the words. 

"I am Brother Luca, I guess you have seen Marissa?" Brother Luca questioned. 

"Yes, I’ve seen her, what the hell has this to do with me?" Spike said testily. 

"Why it has everything to do with you my boy." Brother Luca answered. Spike could hear the humor in the man’s voice. 

"What the hell do you want?" Spike was getting impatient, he felt excited and nervous all at the same time and he had no clue why. 

"You lost something very precious once.....do you want it back?" Brother Luca asked him. 

He didn’t even think to act like he didn’t know what he was talking about. "Its not mine to get back." 

"It could be, if you really want it." The priest said. 

"But it no longer belongs to me to even want back, I’m not going to play any games here, we both know what you are talking about, I’ve seen Marissa, she wants nothing to do with me." Spike said. 

"What you see and what is truth could be two different things my boy." Brother Luca riddled. 

"I’m not playing any stupid games, I’m not in the mood, ok, and I’m not your boy." Spike said into the phone, he turned in the phone booth and the thought ran through his mind again, what he hell was he doing. 

"Ok, fair enough," Brother Luca continued, "you lost Marissa once because you wanted her happy, but she is not happy, there is only one thing in this world I believe that would make her happy." 

Spike laughed into the telephone, "If your about to say me, your dead wrong, she could never be happy with me, your forgetting one little thing, I’m a vampire, I kill people to survive, I’m not the boy next door, I’m not Angelus with a soul, nope, no soul insight for me pops." 

"Marissa has no soul, she doesn’t kill to survive, be honest, what is more important in your life, the kill or Marissa?" Brother Luca asked. 

"She isn’t a part of my life, that part was over a long time ago, it’s in the past, a past that I haven’t even thought about in a long time." Spike answered. 

"I ask you to be honest," Brother Luca paused for a moment, "I’m very good at reading people, I’ve studied you for a very long time, isn’t it true that while you were with Marissa you rarely killed, you rarely hunted with the packs? It wasn’t until your time with the Black Wi...er...Druscilla that you took to the streets again, was it? When you were with Marissa you could control your feeding, have you ever ask yourself why?" 

Spike didn’t want to answer, he hadn’t wanted to think about it then and he sure as hell didn’t want to discuss his life with this stranger. He didn’t say anything. 

"Ok, I’m putting you on the spot, your probably thinking what do I owe this old man, well I’ll tell you, I believe that somewhere deep down inside of yourself there is a part of you that is more human than you care to admit, and that part belongs to Marissa, it always has, and it always will," the priest took a breath and began again, "I won’t lie to you, I could care less about you. But I love Marissa like she was my daughter, I’ve seen her through the pain, I’ve seen her at her lowest, and I never want to see her like that again. It seems you, and you alone can make her happy, and she deserves to be happy. That is all I ask. She is in danger, very evil danger, if you care at all about her you will help her." 

Spike perked up at the mention of danger, "what danger?" he asked. 

"I can’t tell you, Marissa would be angry with me, but I did want to warn you, watch over her, protect her, she will need it." There was a click at the other end of the line. Spike realized that the priest had hung up. He returned the phone to the box and stepped out of the phone booth. 

"What the hell is going on?" he asked himself out loud. 

What danger was Marissa in? He had failed her once, was he going to repeat history again. He walked off into the darkness, he had a lot to think about. 

part 4 

by bec 

Chapter XV 

Three Months Later: 

The ball bounced rhythmically on the pavement, once, twice, three times. The ball was slowly raised into the air and was released, it flew through the air, coming down gently into the net with a gentle swish. 

"Yes, and he scores again!" Xander screamed and raised his arms into the air. He turned and did a little happy dance. 

Angel shook his head and wondered why he did this to himself, he turned and looked at Oz, "Why?" he voiced his thoughts. 

"Don’t ask me, I think it’s because it’s the only game he can beat us at." The multi-colored haired boy answered. 

"Xander are you here to play or to dance?" Angel asked him. 

Xander was still humming to himself and waving his arms in a less then dignified hula dance. "What, your just jealous cause I whipped your butts, I’ve finally found something that deadboy can’t do as well as I can." 

"Yeah, we’re jealous, I mean beating you at everything else you’ve had us doing for the last month doesn’t mean a thing to us." Oz grinned. 

"And "deadboy" beating you at poker didn’t count for a thing." Angel said. "And quit calling me that, I’m not dead anymore, remember?" 

Xander grinned and said "Your gonna have to be breathing a lot more than three months for me to stop calling you that. And it’s funnier than "liveboy," just doesn’t have the same ring to it." 

Angel wiped the sweat off his forehead and took a deep breath of air, he grinned, damn that felt good, breathing was not something a vampire thought about too often. But Angel thanked his friends every day for this luxury, he never believed it possible, but he was alive, alive and happy. 

"See even he thinks its funny" Xander said to Oz. 

Oz just did a little shift of his shoulders as if to say . 

"Well, are you boys up for another game of PIG," Xander asked. He reached down and grabbed the ball again. 

"We have to meet everyone at the library remember." Angel answered. "Guess your just gonna have to wait until next time." If there is a next time, Angel thought to himself. If he had his way he wouldn’t be playing this game again, well at least not until he regained his full strength. In three months he had made great strides in getting his health and agility back, but he still was not up to his full strength. But he felt good, hell he felt better than good, he felt great. Not only was he alive again, he still retained some of his vampiric strengths, he wasn’t quite as strong as Buffy but he was stronger than normal human beings, he just tired quickly, but soon he would be at full strength and he could start helping Buffy on her patrols. He was getting nervous at all this sitting around, if one more person told him to rest he was going to scream. He wanted to help, anyway he could. 

Angel grabbed the gym bag that he and Xander had bought yesterday and started walking toward Oz’s van. He smiled as he remembered the shopping expedition, if someone had asked him a few months ago if he would ever be friends with Xander he would have said no, but it’s funny how things work out, it took awhile, but Xander had finally reached a point where he had forgiven Angel for the things that Angelus had done. Hell, it had taken Angel just as long, he hadn’t wanted to live with the memories of what he had done to Buffy and her friends during those months when he had lost his soul. 

When he had first awoke he hadn’t even noticed the changes in himself. He knew something had happened, the pain had told him that. Buffy and Marissa had explained to him what had happened, he had used the excuse of the pain not to talk to them. He hid his feelings and emotions, they were too much, he couldn’t handle any long winded conversations at that time. When the pain had changed to a nagging ache and he hadn’t even realized it was hunger, the truth had hit him, hard. All the new experiences he was feeling were just another excuse to hide, as they explained what he was feeling he couldn’t comprehend all the changes, he was mystified, then horrified. He didn’t know what to do. With all the memories coming back bit by bit he didn’t have time to think about eating and having to use a toilet for the first time in his life. Those things were just another excuse to hide from actually talking about anything. Marissa and Buffy had taken turns sitting with him, he knew the others were still afraid of him. And that caused more pain. He had taken to not looking them in the face, he never spoke to anyone, he didn’t know what to say, there were no words, so he just stayed quiet. And there were moments of humiliation, the first time he had wet himself he just wanted to curl up and die. And of course Xander was not one to let moments like that pass, oh no, he had to keep making diaper jokes. But once he realized no one was laughing he stopped, it surprised Angel even more that it was Spike who was the one to stop him, he didn’t actually say anything, he just looked at Xander a certain way whenever he would start to sputter about depends and bladder control. Those looks stopped the remarks. 

Seeing Spike there in the apartment with Buffy and her friends was almost as shocking as finding out he was alive again. He couldn’t understand why he was there, but then he remembered how much Spike loved Marissa. Spike was there for Marissa, not for Angel or any of the others. After awhile he realized that Spike was intrigued by what was happening to Angel. He would ask questions that always started out with "how does that feel, what does this taste like," things like that. He tried to act cool about it, but Angel knew he was curious what it felt like to be human again. But there was no way he was gonna tell anyone that, especially not Spike, he was too good at hiding his emotions and feelings behind his sarcastic humor. Between him and Xander’s little quips at each other Angel wanted to strangle them after just three days. 

At first he had tried to cut them out of his life, push them away when they tried to help him. He couldn’t face them, couldn’t stand to look into their face’s every day during his recuperation, knowing that they hated him. It was torture for both sides, he could see the pain but he was too weak to do or say anything to them. At first he hadn’t even noticed the changes in himself. He had the added humiliation of them taking care of him. With Marissa it wasn’t so bad, hell, even Spike was better than the others. It had totally surprised him to wake up and find out that Spike was helping Buffy and the others. But once he figured out that the reason was Marissa it fell into place. But his friends had finally convinced him that was a chapter of his life that had to be closed. What was really strange is, that they wouldn’t let him push them away. It took awhile but even with their anger at Angelus they made sure Angel knew that they were there for him. Willow was easy, she had a huge heart, Cordelia just didn’t want to leave Xander alone with Buffy so she came every night and helped the gang with him. Oz was there for Willow. Giles was the one that surprised Angel, after what he had done to Jenny Angel hadn’t expected Giles to have anything to do with him. But as the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months. Angel finally realized that none of them were going anywhere. In the end it was Xander himself who finally made Angel realize that he could sit in his apartment and stagnate or he could get his "ass" in gear and help them. Xander had just come out and told him, "Fine sit here, rot for all I care, great way of repaying us for saving your sorry old ass, and while your sitting here molding away, just picture Buffy with all those eligible guys out there panting after her." And he had slammed out the door, letting Angel sitting there with his mouth hanging open, but as the minutes passed Angel had come to realize that it’s very rare to get a second chance or in his case a third. And from that day on he had started to live again. And he enjoyed every second of it. 

The first thing he did was apologize to Buffy, he owed her the most, the things that he had done were done to torment her the worst. And he hadn’t exactly been polite to her when he recovered. He had tried to act like she wasn’t there, thinking that is what she would want. He hadn’t realized that by doing that he had hurt her even more. He thought back to the day that they had found themselves alone in the apartment, everyone else having either gone home to rest or was out researching something. For the first time they were alone to talk things out. Angel was scared, scared of what she would say to him. 

"Buffy, I ah, I would like to apologize to you." Angel had started out. He was lying in his bed, they very rarely left him get out of it, just a few times to use the bathroom and walk around the room a bit, then right back to bed. 

At first she hadn’t said anything, then she had told him, "You don’t have to apologize to me Angel, it wasn’t you, it was Angelus, I realize that." 

"But Angelus and I were one, so its only right that I apologize for everything I did then." Angel had quietly stated. 

"Ok, I can understand why you don’t want to be around me, I remind you of . . . all . . . well all the things he did." Buffy had said. 

"No," Angel said, "it’s not that, I haven’t bothered you because I realize that your feelings for me have probably changed." 

"Changed?" Buffy just looked at him. "Changed how?" 

Angel turned away from her, he didn’t think he could take the pain of finally loosing her. "I realize you don’t love me anymore." 

"Don’t love you, Angel how did you figure this out?" Buffy smiled. 

Unfortunately Angel never turned around to see her smile. "I can understand that after everything that has happened you don’t feel the same way about me, you must hate me for what I did to you and your friends?" 

"Hate you? Ok, I’m gonna stop repeating everything here." Buffy smiled again. She wanted him to turn around so she could see his face. 

But he still kept his face turned away from her. He didn’t know if he could do this. This was too damn hard, harder than he had thought it was going to be. For a moment he wondered if this had been a good idea after all. Suddenly he felt the bed dip to his right and he turned to face Buffy sitting on the side of the bed. She reached up and took his face into her hands. 

"I love you, do you hear me?" Buffy asked quietly. "Marissa has made me, well we really, all of us, realize that Angelus was responsible for everything that has happened these last few months. I might not have been able to realize that if I hadn’t seen that thing . . . that creature she pulled out of you. If I hadn’t seen the demon fighting and clawing to stay in you, I might not have come to understand what it really meant all those times you told me how hard it was for you to maintain control over it. But I did, we all did. That was the demon, that’s who was responsible for all the hideous things that have happened. But he’s gone now, he was destroyed that night in the library. I saw it happen. I saw it die. It’s gone. It can’t hurt us ever again. It can’t hurt you anymore." 

Angel stared at her, stared at the tears trailing down her face. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, he couldn’t believe that she still loved him. He reached up and covered her hands with his, cupping her hands around his cheeks. He never realized that tears flowed from his eyes too. He smiled and said simply, "I love you too, I love you with my whole being." 

Angel smiled as walked to the van and thought about those words. As long as he had Buffy’s love, everything was going to be ok. Xander’s voice intruded on his thoughts. 

"Do you think the other deadboy is going to be there again?" Xander asked. 

"Who, Spike?" Angel answered. 

Xander bounced the ball, "Yeah, once the sun goes down we can’t turn around without bumping into him." 

"He’s trying to help, I think." Oz said fishing the keys out of his sports bag. 

"Hah! He’s just waiting for his chance with Marissa, does he really think he has a chance with her?" Xander snapped. "She has better taste than that." 

"They were very deeply in love once, both alive and dead." Angel quietly said. He knew why Spike was hanging around, but he knew he could never make the others believe that Spike had loved Marissa once. That at one time Spike was Marissa’s only lifeline. He was still amazed that Marissa was still the same woman he had known all those years ago, the shyness was gone, though the innocence remained. She had a new found strength, he wondered not for the first time, where that strength had come from. What had happened to her to give her the independence that she had acquired? 

"Well I guess we’ll find out when we get to the library, it will be dark by then." Oz said as he started the van. "He’s been helping us a lot here lately, giving us important information, I wouldn’t discount him yet Xander." 

"I never counted him in the first place. I don’t trust him. He could be helping Druscilla and her pals behind our backs." Xander said. 

"No," Angel said, "he hasn’t seen Druscilla since the night of the restoration ceremony. He’s been keeping his eyes and ears open, he wouldn’t let anything happen to Marissa." 

"Why not, he’s tried to kill us one to many times to count, why stop now?" Xander asked. 

"Because he cares about Marissa," Angel wiped his face again and looked out the window, sometimes talking to Xander was so frustrating, "he protected her from Dru and me, back when I first turned her, no matter what we did or said, he was there for her." 

"So what happened, why was he with Druscilla when he came to Sunnydale?" Xander asked. If nothing else Xander was a nonstop stream of questions. 

Angel looked at Xander and said, "In my opinion he thought he was protecting her, he brought her to me, tried to keep her hidden from the rest of them. He was doing the only thing that he could think of. He knew I wouldn’t hurt her, he knew I would protect her with my life. I owed her." 

"Well hell yeah you owe her, you sucked the life out of her, if that’s not owing someone I don’t know what is?" Xander snapped. 

Angel winced at the tone in Xander’s voice, he, more than anyone knew what he owed Marissa, not only for then, but for now too, for giving him life. He did owe her his life now, and anger at Xander for not thinking he realized that came out. 

"Damn it, and you think I don’t realize that, well I do, I owe her more than I’ve ever owed anyone before, and I would give up my life for her, for any of you guys’. I’ll never be able to repay you for everything you have done. Believe me I have tried to think of someway, somehow but . . . hell, I’ve racked my brain’s trying to come up with a way, but I’ve . . . " Angel’s words trailed off, the looks he was getting from the other two occupants of the van took the steam right out of him. They were smiling, and that baffled him. "What the hell are you smiling at?" 

"You," Xander said. "I was wondering when you were gonna blow up at us, when you were going to have a normal human reaction to something, I’m glad I was the one you exploded on, the girls would have been upset by it. 

"What are you talking about?" Angel asked. 

"Well man, you have been walking around strung tighter than a guitar string for the last couple of months." Oz smiled. "Xander and I were just wondering when you were gonna pop." 

"It feels good to get mad and not have to kill something, doesn’t it?" Xander said. 

Angel smiled, it did feel good to get mad and not have to worry about the demon taking control. He had been keeping himself under control, too much control, he started to laugh, and the two boys in the front of the van joined him. They continued laughing as they drove off toward the library. 

**************************** 

It was quiet in the library as Spike let himself in through the stacks, he figured he was the first one here. He spied the watcher as he rounded the corner and came down the stairs, Giles was carrying a stack of books out of his office. 

"The others aren’t here yet?" he questioned Giles. 

Giles looked up and said, "No, not yet, but they should be here any minute now. I . . . ah . . . I heard from Brother Luca this morning, he wanted to know if you were still helping us." 

"And what did you tell him?" Spike asked. He hadn’t spoken to the priest again, he had started to call him twice since that one conversation they had had. But something held him back, talking to the priest was like being in a confessional, he had a way of getting things out of Spike that Spike didn’t want to talk about, he wasn’t ready to admit to himself what his actual feelings for Marissa were yet. He looked toward the watcher to see what he would say. 

Giles looked at the books he held in his hands, "I told him you were helping us daily, that you were still here and you seemed to be working for our side." Giles said. 

"Seemed?" Spike chuckled, "And what did he have to say about that?" 

"He laughed, he said that you really didn’t have a choice, I have no ideal what he meant by that." Giles finished stacking the books onto the table, he turned and looked at the vampire. "Why don’t you have a choice?" 

Spike turned and looked around the library, "Has Marissa said anything to you about her and me?" If the news wasn’t good, he didn’t want to have to look into the man’s face. 

"About you and her, no," Giles continued stacking books, "but I gathered from certain actions that you have a.. what shall we call it, a past together?" 

"A past? Yeah you could call it that," Spike rubbed his eyes, it was harder to talk about it then he had thought it would be. "Marissa was my first love, my human love. We knew each other long before vampires and demons ever existed in our world. When I became a vampire, I thought that she was out of my life forever, but unfortunately Angelus had other ideals. He used Marissa to torture me, he turned her into what she is today, one of us, but not. I’ve never heard of another like Rissa, she’s a vampire, but I had never seen any evidence of the demon she has become. As far as I know she has never killed to survive, never taken another life to feed. When Angelus brought her to us, a part of me was thrilled, my demon part, but another part of me was horrified, terrified that she had to live like I lived. I kept Rissa with me, fed her, protected her," Spike closed his eyes, "loved her." 

This last part made Giles stop what he was doing, he turned again and looked at Spike, he knew that Spike cared about Druscilla, but to think that he had turned from Marissa to Druscilla just didn’t make sense to him. But then again, he thought to himself, Spike is a vampire, no matter that he had been helping them for three months, no matter that as far as they knew he hadn’t taken a human life in that time, there was a demon inside of the man standing in front of him, a demon that was in control of that man. 

"What happened?" Giles asked. 

"I couldn’t protect her anymore, it was getting too dangerous for her to be around Dru, Dru was relentless in her hatred of Rissa." Spike walked over to the table and sat down, his hands had started to shake, he hadn’t wanted to start this conversation, hadn’t wanted to lay his "soul" out to this man, but now that he had started talking, he couldn’t stop. "She had lost Angel by that time and she made it perfectly clear that as my Sire she expected me to take Angel’s place in her life and in her bed. She didn’t care for the power that Rissa had over me. She would have eventually killed her. So I put out the word that I wanted to find Angelus, wanted to take him out, but in truth I wanted his help, he was the only one that could help us; the only one who could protect Rissa from Drucilla. So I took Rissa to Angel and left her there, no explanations, no nothing. I lied to her and I left, and never saw her again. Not until three months ago, right here in old SunnyHell." 

Spike reached into his pocket and took out a pack of cigarettes and started to shake one out of the pack, but the other man shook his head with a definite no. He put the cigarette back and started tapping his fingers on the table. 

"So you chose Drucilla over Ma . . . " Giles voiced dwindled off, he realized what he was about to say, the other man might take it as an insult. "So you began a relationship with Druscilla?" 

"It either was that or go into hiding with Rissa, and that would have only driven Druscilla to search us out, and let me tell you mate, I never wanted to take the chance of her ever getting close to Rissa again." Spike said. "Dru has a lot of people fooled, her insanity isn’t a hindrance to her, it actually makes her stronger in some areas, and a hell of a lot crueler in others. Don’t let her ever get the upper hand on you, or your one bloody deadman to be sure." 

"So, your helping us because of Marissa?" Giles asked him. 

"I’m helping because Brother Luca said that Ris is in some kind of trouble, some sort of danger" Spike answered truthfully, "do you have any ideal what he’s talking about?" 

"No, she hasn’t said one word to me or anyone else as far as I know about any danger." Giles said. 

"Keep your ear’s open all right?" Spike asked him, "This new Rissa is more independent, more close mouthed about things. She might not want us to know, or else the priest could just be using it as an excuse to keep me close to her." 

"I’ll check some things out," Giles said, "if trouble is following Marissa, we should be able to find out something about it, Sunnydale is not the place for "quiet danger," if there is something out there, we will find out about it." 

"Find out about what?" Buffy asked. Willow and Cordelia followed her into the library. 

"Oh, he’s here again, you owe me ten bucks." Cordelia said as she put her hand out to Willow. 

Willow pulled a bill out of her fuzzy purple purse and handed it to the brunette. "Well, he might not have been here, I was just saying that he’s not "always" here." 

Spike winked at the small girl, "I’m here to stay little one, get used to me." He liked making her blush, she reminded him so much of the human Marissa, that he couldn’t help teasing her. 

"And I repeat, find out about what, Giles?" Buffy said again. She turned and waited for him to answer. 

"Spike has informed me that there might be a possible chance of danger directed toward Marissa." Giles said. 

Buffy put her hands on her hips, "What kind of danger, I’ve seen this woman in action, it would take a very big hunk of danger to over take her." 

"Well maybe this danger hasn’t seen her in action." Spike said. 

"We don’t know anything more than that. Brother Luca didn’t go into details." Giles answered. "I’ll have Willow check into it, see if there is anything on that web thingie that might help us." 

"Web thingie. Giles’ I would think your getting used to this web thingie by now." Willow smiled as she sat down at the computer station. "This web thingie has helped us out countless times, even you have to admit that." 

"My books have come in handy once or twice I should say." Giles sputtered indignantly. 

"And here I thought we were out of the danger business for a while," Cordelia said, "I mean, look at it, Angel is human now, Spike is . . . well sorta on our side, Druscilla looks to be on a long vacation, what else is there?" 

"When one one lives over a Hellmouth, one must be prepared for anything." Giles said. 

"So does this mean our celebration party is off for tonight?" Cordelia asked, she was already wearing a pout on her face. 

"No, it doesn’t," Xander said as the men entered the library. "Hellmouth or no Hellmouth, tonight we party. He leaned over Cordelia and gave her a quick kiss. She pushed him away. 

"What did I tell you about those PDA’s?" She said, "You’ll mess up my lipstick." 

Xander was used to her little acts by now. He ignored her. "We are going to have Angel’s three month’s of life anniversary party tonight if it kills us." 

Oz raised his hand to his mouth and did a quick Harpo Marx imitation "and in this town it just might." 

Angel crossed to Buffy and wrapped his arms around her shoulders leaning into to her, the gang was getting used to seeing them together, there were no sharp looks or uneasy glances like there were in the beginning. 

"Cordelia did you buy that thing we discussed," Willow asked "you know that thing?" 

"What thing?" she said then her eyes lit up, "Oh you mean that dre . . . oh," Willow’s eyes slashed to Spike and she made a chopping movement with her hand. 

"Yes I got it," Cordi said, "and somebody owes me some cash, I won’t mention any names, Buffy and Willow! So we meet at the Bronze at eight o’clock tonight is that all right with everyone?" 

Everyone agreed, except Spike he knew they didn’t want him there so he just kept his mouth shut, oh, he was planning on going, but they didn’t need to know that. 

"All right, shall we get down to business, Marissa should be here any second now." Giles said, he turned to Buffy "How did your patrol go last night?" 

Everyone took a seat at the table, the seat beside Spike went unused, even though he had been helping them for a while now no one was willing yet to sit beside him. 

"Slow, very slow, I only took out one vamp, and a young one at that, still had dirt in his hair." Buffy smiled. 

The library doors swished open, "Sorry I am late." Marissa walked to the table and saw that the only chair left was beside Spike, she turned and grabbed one of the chairs sitting beside the staircase and wedge it in between Oz and Xander." 

Xander looked at Spike and grinned, the vampire looked right back at him, letting him know that he did not find it funny in the least. Xander knew he was playing with fire, but he also knew that Spike wouldn’t try anything while Marissa was in the room. 

"You haven’t missed anything of real importance yet." Giles said to Marissa, as he continued with the meeting. 

  

Chapter XVI 

The Bronze was busiest on Friday nights, they did their best business then. So it was very crowded when the Scooby Gang entered the club. 

They grabbed one of the lounge areas’ in a side room off of the dance floor. 

"Cordelia, I do not think you chose the right size for me, this dress does not fit me right." Marissa said as she pulled the hem of the small, very small black dress down over her thighs. "And I do not know which is worse the bottom or the top" she reached up and tried to pull the bodice up over her cleavage, she wasn’t used to showing so much of herself, and it made her uncomfortable. She still couldn’t believe she had let the three girl’s talk her into wearing this thing. It was almost indecent. 

"Stop pulling on that material, do you know what Spandex does when you yank on it like that, it’ll lose its shape, now stop it," Cordelia said as she made a swipe at Marissa’s hands. "You look great, almost as good as me, not quite, but still good. Just sit back and enjoy yourself." 

She wondered again what she was doing here, these sort of things were meant for teenager’s, not for people like her, she blew useless air out through her ruby lips, they had applied make-up and done her hair, for what she thought, who was she trying to impress here. And these shoes, how the hell did these girl’s walk in these 4 inch heels, her calves hurt just looking at them. She’d probably fall off of them before the night was over. But when Willow had used the excuse that Angel really wanted her here, she had had no choice, she blindly let them do whatever it was they had done to her. 

Cordelia told Xander she wanted to dance, she stood and walked to the dance floor, Xander shrugged his shoulder and got up and followed her. 

Willow kept glancing at the doorway, Oz was wondering who she was waiting for. Was she looking for some guy? Jealousy knawed at Oz, no he wouldn’t believe that, not Willow. 

"Who are you waiting for?" 0z asked her. 

"Oh no one, just wondering who’s here." Willow said. 

But Oz knew when Willow was lying and she was lying right now, she was waiting for somebody, what was she up to? 

"Well, do you want to dance while you wonder?" Oz asked. 

Willow smiled and put her hand in Oz’s and let him draw her to the dance floor. She smiled to herself, she had never even thought about fast dancing before Oz came into her life, now she did it without even thinking. 

She turned back to Marissa, "You don’t mind do you? I wouldn’t want to leave you here all alone. 

Buffy laughed and said "Why thank you very much Ms. Rosenberg, are Angel and I invisible now?" 

"Oh no," Willow said, "but I do know when you two are together you sort of forget the rest of the world exist." 

Buffy grimaced, "Sorry about that, we don’t do it on purpose, we do just sort of forget everything else." 

Willow smiled, "That’s ok, I understand," she turned and looked at Oz standing near the dance floor tapping his foot. "I sort of do the same thing sometimes, we can’t help it, we’re in love." She turned and walked towards Oz. 

"If you would like to dance too, go right ahead, do not let me stop you." Marissa said to Buffy and Angel. 

"I think I’ll pass." Angel said, "I’m not up on these dances yet, don’t think I ever will be" he muttered the last part. 

Buffy smiled and lifted his hand and kissed his palm. He smiled back at her. 

"And away they go into never never land," Marissa muttered to herself. She turned and watched the band perform. They were good, while she was in Canada, she had lived on a island named Saltspring Island, it was very isolated, something she needed and enjoyed. Brother Luca had bought her a small black and white television, she had discovered something called "Much Music", and proceeded to fall in love. Music in any form was a delight for her, but she particularly liked the English bands of the 80's, she found out that when she was alone that the music somehow crawled inside of her and she couldn’t control the feelings that rushed through her body, dancing became a secret love of hers. Not one that she was ready to share yet, but soon she would be back in the second loft room at Angel’s and she could turn her radio on low and dance the night away. She never even realized when her foot started tapping to the beat. 

Spike entered the Bronze and slowly walked towards the dance floor, searching for Marissa and her friends, he found the two couples dancing on the floor, and the happy nervous laugh that Willow gave off at the sight of had him wondering what she was up too, if he didn’t know better he would have thought that she was actually glad to see him. He saw her turn and whisper something in the air-heads ear, Cordelia turned and looked at him with a open mouthed glare, then she turned and handed something to Willow. Whatever, Spike thought, he turned scanning the crowd for Rissa. He found her sitting with Angel and Buffy in the lounge area, he headed in their direction. 

Marissa saw William walking towards them, her foot stopped tapping and she sat up straighter, pulling the top up and the hem down at the same time. Realizing what she was doing, she put her hands in her lap and turned her attention to the dance floor again. She caught the smile on Willow’s lips and realized that she had been set-up. She understood why Willow would do this, but it still hurt in a small way. Willow was a romantic, she knew that Marissa felt something for William and was just trying to help in her own way, but she didn’t realize that Marissa didn’t want her help with this particular problem. 

Spike stepped up onto the raised floor and stared at Marissa, he felt heat rush to certain points of his body. 

"Well surprise, surprise, who would have thought we would run into you here." Smiling Buffy looked at Marissa to see how she was reacting. Marissa was looking everywhere but at Spike. 

Spike thought, what the hell was she wearing, he had always thought Marissa a beautiful women, but the word sexy wasn’t something he would have attached to her. Even sitting down he could see how the dress; if you could call it a dress, molded to her body, outlining every line and curve. 

Angel saw the look on Spike’s face and realized what was happening, Spike was seeing Marissa in a whole new light, he smiled to himself. Maybe this is what the two of them needed. He decided it was time for him and Buffy to let these two alone, just on cue a slow song started to play, he thought he could handle that. He nudged Buffy off of his lap and turned to face her. 

"My Lady, may I have the honor of this dance?" Angel gallantly put his hand out to Buffy. 

"Always and forever my Knight." Buffy replied taking his hand and letting him lead her to the dance floor. 

Marissa couldn’t believe they were abandoning her with William, so she panicked. She stood up and started walking towards the door. 

Spike laid his hand on her arm, "May I have this dance my sweet?" 

"I think it is time for me to be leaving," Marissa said. 

"Now who is running away?" Spike said. 

"I learned it from you, you taught me well I would say." Marissa wouldn’t look at his face as she spoke, she kept her face adverted from him. 

"I would say its just one of many things I taught you." Spike said. He sighed, "Rissa, please look at me, I’m just asking you to dance, that’s all, nothing more." 

She looked up into his face, she didn’t know what to do. Her heart told her to dance with him, but her head was saying , run as fast as she could, and as far as she could, she was playing with fire, was she ready for this? 

Spike took her silence for acceptance and turned and led her to the dance floor. He pulled her body close to his and put his arm around her. He felt her tighten, he loosened his hold a little and felt her slowly relax. The euphoria that hit his brain was a shock to his system, it had been so long, so very long since he had held her in his arms. The heat returned to all his unused circulation points, he could feel the blood burning through his body. He slowly realized that they were just standing there in the middle of the dance floor, he looked up and saw the little one called Willow looking at him with a expectant smile on her face, she slowly nodded her head at him, as if to say "go ahead, dance with her". Spike started to move, cautiously at first, he relaxed himself and let the rhythm of the music enter his body, he swayed with Marissa locked in his arms. He felt like the top of his head was going to explode. For a moment he felt dizzy, his steps faltered. 

Marissa looked up into his face, "William, are you alright?" She asked. 

"I don’t know, for the life of me I couldn’t tell you how I felt right now." Spike said without thinking. 

He resumed moving with the music, taking Marissa with him, he slowly moved around the floor. He could only see her, only feel her, in Spike’s world they were alone, they were the only two that existed at this moment in time. The longing and emotions that were traveling through his body were almost too much for him. He had made love to Marissa thousands of times, but that was nothing compared to the feelings he was experiencing at this moment in time. Part of him wanted to turn and run as fast as he could, never in all his years as a man or a demon had he felt like this. 

Marissa stared into William’s eyes, she couldn’t read the emotions that were there, she didn’t understand what was happening, to him or to her. The innocent in her wanted to escape, to run away and not have to deal with her emotions, but the women in her wanted to give herself to him, right here and right now, spread herself out on this floor and make love with him. The innocent won, she turned and ran through the sea of bodies, pushing them out of her way as she ran. It was only a few feet to the door, she could make it she told herself. 

But Spike was faster, he ran after her and caught her just as she was at the doorway. 

"No, no more running, we are going to talk, tonight, here now!" he said. 

"Talk!" She turned on him, "I am not the one who runs away, that is your little trick, but then again, you have a lot of little tricks in your bag, do you not?" 

The rest of the Scooby Gang moved towards the door, they had witness Marissa’s wild dash through the crowd. 

"I’m not running anymore, talk to me Marissa, your just not running from me, your running from something else and I want to know what it is?" Spike pleaded with her. 

She just stood and stared at him. 

"Rissa, Please?" Spike begged. 

Angel and the others stood and watched, they were in shock, to see Spike beg was not something you saw everyday. Angel had known Spike a long time and he had never seen Spike like this. Even Xander remained quiet. 

"Brother Luca said you were in danger, what danger?" Spike asked. 

"He had no right to talk to you about me." Marissa snapped. 

"He loves you, we all care about you, your not alone anymore." Angel entered the conversation. 

"You cannot help me, no one can, you do not realize what you are asking." Marissa jerked her arm, but Spike was not letting go. 

"We are asking our friend to trust us, to let us help her." Willow said. 

Marissa stared at the group surrounding her. "You cannot help me." she repeated. 

"Tell me, I would never let anything harm you, you now that." Spike said. 

"Do I, do I really know that, where were you when I needed you most?" Marissa said, "You were with Druscilla. What guarantee do I have that you will not leave me again. I would trust these strangers before I would ever trust you again." 

"Then trust them," Spike said the anger coming out in his voice, "tell them what the danger is, tell them how they can help you. I understand why you can’t trust me, I let you down once, but I promise you I will never let you down again. But don’t let your hatred of me stop you from accepting their help, please?" 

Even with the music playing in the background it seemed to Marissa that the silence was deafening, they were waiting for her to give them something she didn’t think she had. Trust, it was so simple for these people to have trust in one another, but so very hard for her to believe it existed in her world. Could she ever trust anyone ever again, she looked at William again. 

"Why do you want to help me, why should I trust you?" She asked him. 

He just stood there, the words were there, but he couldn’t get them past his lips. 

But Angel had no problem with the words. "Because he loves you, he has always loved you." 

Marissa jerked her arm out of Williams hand, "Love me, you think he loves me, he abandoned me for that blackhearted bitch, he doesn’t love me." She started to laugh, it was a scary sound, "My God he sold me just so he wouldn’t have to ever see me again." She turned and ran out the door. 

"MARISSA!" Spike yelled. 

"Well you really pissed her off," Xander said. 

"You think?" Spike snapped. "What the hell was she talking about, I never sold her." 

"Wow, she contracted," Willow said. 

Spike looked at her like she was crazy. 

"She contracted her words, Marissa never does that. Willow said as tears welled up in her eyes. I just wanted to help her, I thought if she could talk with Spike maybe they could work things out." 

Buffy put her arm around Willow, "Its ok Will, your heart is always in the right place." 

They turned and followed Marissa out the door, Willow hoped they could catch up with her. 

But Marissa was still standing out-front of the Bronze, staring off into the darkness. 

Spike walked over to her, he was afraid to touch her, afraid she would run away again, "Rissa, I’m sorry." 

But she acted like she didn’t hear him, she stared off into the darkness, watching the group of people walking towards the Bronze. 

"My dear, its been so long, I knew if I waited long enough I would find you again." A deep voice said. 

Marissa had never thought to hear that voice again, in all her nightmares it was there, but she had told herself never again. She simple stood there and stared, after everything she had learned, everything she had taught herself, she froze. 

  

Chapter XVII 

Everyone looked up at the group. They spied Druscilla immediately. Just the sight of her caused the scooby gang to freeze. 

Marissa had not taken her eyes off of Darius. Everything she had trained for, everything she had taught herself in the last seven years was lost to her at that moment. She was back in that prison, back in the chains he had kept her in for five long years. 

"Who are you?" Buffy asked. She had automatically gone into Slayer mode. She looked at the man standing with Druscilla, he was gorgeous, even at a time like this that thought went through her head. He stood 6'4", long black hair pulled back into a ponytail at the back of his neck, he was wearing a dark suit, Buffy wondered if Cordella could tell if it was Italian or not. He was goodlooking, but at the same time Buffy could feel the evil surrounding him. 

"Marissa, my sweet, your not going to introduce me to your friends? I’m hurt." The man said. He actually had a very easy demeaner about him, he stood there and acted like he was on a stroll in the park, actually he looked bored. 

"What the hell are you talking about Darius, what the hell are you doing here?" Spike demanded. 

"She’s just so surprised to see her lover return for her." Druscilla said, giggling to herself. "Bad girl, you didn’t tell Spikie about Darius did you, shame on you." 

"Why Spike, didn’t your little freak tell you about Darius, their in love, aren’t you my dear? Go ahead, tell him all about Darius." Dru’s face went from smiling too hard as rock in one second, "I got rid of you before bitch, all I have to do is snap my fingers and my boys are mine again, thanks to Darius. You will never win against me." 

Angel listened to Druscilla threaten Marissa, as she spoke he saw three more vampires enter the lighted area of the Bronze entrance, he knew something had to be done, Buffy, Spike and he could handle these vamps but the four humans could get hurt. He saw Buffy look at him out of the corner of her eye, she didn’t know what was going on here, but she knew they had to do something, and do it fast. 

Buffy counted the vampires around them, Druscilla, the big guy standing with her, the two no-necks standing beside him and the three vampires slowly coming up behind her and her friends; that made a total of seven, the odds were not even, but she had taken on more in the past. And she had Angel and Spike on her side. She glanced at Spike, could they count on him in this fight? She hoped so. 

Spike looked from Darius to Dru, he didn’t understand what was going on, but he knew that this was the danger that Brother Luca had talked about. He moved closer to Marissa and tried to catch her eye, he had to let her know that he was on her side, he would protect Marissa no matter what. She never glanced at him, she never moved, she kept staring at Darius. Spike had heard Dru’s words, but now was not the time to bring it up. He had to get them away from Dru, and he knew from past experiences that Darius was shrewd and cunning when it came to battle. But he had the Slayer on his side this time, and with Angel’s help maybe, possibly they could get themselves out of this. 

Oz had noticed the other vampires moving up behind them, he turned and motioned Willow to back up toward Buffy’s back. Xander saw Oz move and he maneuvered into Cordelia and slowly pushed her back until her and Willow were surrounded by the group. 

"Well if you guys don’t mind, we’re just going to be heading on out, got a lot of homework," Xander ad-libbed, "can’t forget the homework." 

Oz turned to the other guy and said, "Check please?" Neither vampire got the humor. 

If they had been anyone else, this could have been a tough situation, but they were not just anyone else, they were friends of the slayer, they came prepared. By the time the three vampires had moved around the group the stakes, crosses and holy water was out and ready for use. With their tools tucked safely into sweaty nervous palms, they waited for their cues. 

"Marissa make this easier on your friends, just come with me now, and I’ll let them go, I don’t want them, just you, only you." Darius said smoothly. 

His smile didn’t match the look in his eyes. No, there was murder in his eyes, and Marissa knew this, and that is what drew her out of her shock, the knowledge that if she went with him, he would still kill her friends. It wasn’t her she was worried about, it was the five, no make that six humans behind her, she had to think about them first. 

"Easier, no I do not think so, I do not plan on making anything easier for you ever again, Darius." Marissa spoke calmly, hearing her speak the people behind her didn’t realize the terror she felt in her body at that moment. 

Buffy had seen her friend’s ready themselves, she knew that they understood the danger they were in, but she had to trust them to be able to handle the minor stuff while she, Angel and Spike handled the rest. In one fluid motion she threw a stake into one of the no-necks standing beside Darius, he was dust in seconds. That gave Angel and Spike enough time to react, they both grabbed a vamp at the same time. Angel threw his guy into the brick wall of the Bronze as hard as he could, Spike took the other vamp and snapped his neck in one quick move. He let him drop to the ground, he would recover but it would take some time, a very painful time. Druscilla ran behind Darius, knowing he would protect her. Daruis just stood and watched the fight, he acted like he didn’t have a care in the world. Xander shoved the cross he was holding into his vampires face, the creature cringed and turned his head away, giving Cordelia enough time to spray the holy water into his face. It caught the side of his face and he dropped to his knees groaning in agony, at the same time Oz ducked the fist flying at his head and brought the stake he held in his hand up into the vamp’s chest, in seconds he was staring at dust floating to the ground, it still amazed him when that happened. But he or the others didn’t take the time to wonder about it. The group turned and ran down the alley as fast as they could, Marissa was surprised that her legs could actually work. 

Where to?" Angel shouted. 

Buffy never slowed down, "The Library, Giles will need to be told what’s going down." 

"What the hell is going down?" Xander yelled. 

Oz’s van came into sight in front of the gang, doors were thrown up and the engine was started in seconds. 

Buffy turned to Marissa, "Who the hell is Darius?" 

Marissa sat huddled in the corner of the van, the shock was wearing off, the emotions were battling in her head, she didn’t know what to say to Buffy, how did one explain their worse nightmare. 

"Darius is one of the oldest and the most powerful Master Vampires that has ever existed." Angel told Buffy. "Spike and I ran with him for a few years around the turn of the Century." 

"No, we didn’t run with him, he owned us, he controlled us," Spike said. "And we didn’t exactly want to be owned, so we took off, we left him, I haven’t seen him since then, have you?" He turned to look at Angel, but Angel wasn’t looking at him. He turned to see what Angel was staring at. 

Marissa was sitting with her back wedged between the corner of the van and the rear door, she had her head bent, her shoulders were shaking, he thought she was crying, she was making a weird hissing sound. He reached out to her, just as he was ready to grasp her shoulders, she looked directly at Spike, there were no tears on her cheeks, her eyes were dry, there was a desperate, insane look in them. Spike felt a shiver of fear trail down his spine, he had never seen her like this, he didn’t know how to handle this Marissa. 

"Owned, you do not know what it is to be owned by Darius, image being in the deepest, darkest part of Hell, then magnify it by 10,000. Darius made Angelus look like Mr. Rogers." Marissa said in a maniacal chuckle. "He did not "play" with his victims, you knew from the beginning who was in charge, and he did not ever let you forget it." 

Spike reached out to her. But before he could touch her, she screamed and moved away from him. 

"Do not, please do not touch me," she said, "I thought it was you!" She started to laugh, the tears came now, hysterical tears running down her face, and she didn’t even realize it. 

Everyone just sat and stared at the two in the back of the van. They didn’t know what was happening. Oz kept his eyes on the road but every few seconds he kept glancing in the rearview mirror, he knew they had to get to the library as quickly as possible. He turned to Willow in the passenger seat and whispered, "Get Cordelia’s phone, call Giles, tell him to meet us at the library." Willow did as he ask. She whispered into the telephone, while in the rear of the van Spike quietly questioned Marissa as the others listened. "You thought what was me?" 

Marissa shook her head as if to clear it, "I thought you were the one who sold me to Darius." 

"Why Ris, why did you think I sold you?" Spike said. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but he knew that to shout and demand anything of Marissa at this point wouldn’t get him the answers he was looking for. 

"I saw you, you and her, Druscilla . . . " Marissa trailed off, she was remembering, remembering the pain and conflicting emotions that had ran through her that day in San Francisco. 

Spike crawled to his knees directly in front of Marissa, "Saw us where Ris?" 

"At the Amusement Park, on the pier . . . in San Francisco, it was 1973, Angel had gone away and left me alone, he was helping Whistler again, I was exploring on the pier . . . I ate cotton candy, it kept sticking to my hands, but it was the best thing I had ever eaten," Marissa rubbed her hands as if the confection was still there, then she looked directly at him "I could eat things, I wanted to eat things, especially sweet things, and did I tell you I can hold crosses and holy water, they tingle but they do not burn me." She smiled and wrapped her arms around herself, "and the sun William, I can walk in the sun, all day long, after a few hours I get so weak, but I loved walking in the sun, feeling the heat on my skin, you cannot imagine how that feels." 

Spike let her ramble, he listened to every word that came out of her mouth, amazed at what she was telling him, but also knowing that if he interrupted now, she would break, crack like an egg. He felt so damn scared at this moment, sitting and watching her, listening to her. 

"Ok, this is like the Twilight Zone, is anyone else getting all shivery here?" Xander said. Angel raised his hand and let Xander know that now was not the time to joke. But for once Xander wasn’t joking, the goose bumps ran up and down his arms. Watching Marissa was scaring the crap out of him. 

"I was afraid to tell you, I thought you would just think that is was just another side effect of being a freak. I was walking in the sun that day, I walked and walked, I never even realized when it got dark. There were so many people on the pier that day, so many . . . " Marissa shivered as if she was cold. "I heard her laugh, I will never forget that laugh as long as I live, and there you were, you were playing some kind of game. She looked right at me, and I ran. I ran and hid, but he found me, she had sent him to find me. She had sold me to Darius, sold me so you would not find me. But I did not know that, not until tonight. I thought it was you, I thought you did not want me, did not ever want to see me again. And Darius did not say who had betrayed me, just that I had angered someone. He knew what I was thinking and he let me go on thinking it was you. It was just another way of torturing me, letting me think it was you who had sold me to him." 

"But why would a vampire "buy" another vampire?" Cordelia questioned. 

Marissa looked at Cordelia like she was a fool for not realizing why. "Because of the Prophecy." 

"What Prophecy?" Willow asked. 

"The Prophecy of The Gift" Marissa stated. 

part 5 

by bec 

Chapter XVIII 

Giles stood behind the counter in the library waiting for the group to arrive. From the rushed phone call from Willow he was under the impression that something was happening, something that would require his books and papers. He had collected those books that he felt he would need near by in cases like these. Willow had mentioned the words "Master vampire." That did not sit well with Giles, he remembered the last time Buffy had gone up against a master. She had died. 

Giles looked up as the double doors slammed open. Spike came through first carrying Rissa; he had wrapped his coat around her, which was ludicrous Giles thought. Why would Marissa need a coat, the cold didn’t affect her. But as he looked at her, he could understand why. She was shaking from head to toe and she was trembling with a fierceness that caused her teeth to rattle. 

Giles rushed to move the books he had strewn across the table. Spike laid her in their place but didn’t release her. He kept his arm around her shoulders, telling her to lie back. 

"What happened?" Giles asked. 

"Trouble," Buffy answered as she came through the door with the rest of the gang. They all started talking at once, Giles couldn’t follow. He raised his voice for silence, "Quiet!" 

Everyone stopped talking at once. Giles turned to Buffy again. "Now you may explain what happened. Willow said something about a "Master" Vampire?" 

Buffy walked to the table and looked at Marissa. "Yeah, his name is Darius. He’s somebody from Marissa’s past." 

"From our past." Angel spoke up. "We ran with him in the early 1900's. He’s trouble, big trouble." 

"Did you see how he didn’t even act like anything was up while the fight was going on?" Xander said nervously. "Just backed up a few feet and watched everything with a really weird smile on his face, like it was all a game or something?" 

"This IS a game to Darius," Marissa said. She sat up and looked at the people around her. "This is not your fight. I will not allow you to involve yourself in this." 

Buffy smiled at her. "Well you really don’t get a choice in this, he is in Sunnydale, Sunnydale is my turf, anything happens here, I’m involved." 

Giles turned to Angel, "Is he a Master Vampire? I that what are we talking about here?" 

"He is very old, he’s been around longer than a lot of vampires. He does have powers, black powers and he has always had an interest in witchcraft. He’s studied it on all four continents; he’s studied with the best. We are talking bad, really bad." Angel said. 

"Well, maybe I could help?" Willow said. 

"NO!" 

Everyone jumped as Marissa spoke. "No, not with Darius, his power’s are far more advanced then yours, he would tear you apart, I will not have you hurt. No one is going up against him, this is my fight." 

"Your fight? I don’t bloody well think so; you couldn’t even move back there. Just seeing him again caused you to freeze up," Spike said, speaking for the first time since entering the library. "If you think I’m gonna let you go up against him alone, forget it. You’re out of your bloody freaking mind." 

"You do not have any say in what I do or do not do," Marissa said. She pulled herself off of the tabletop, removing Spike’s coat as she stood up. She went to hand it to him but he made no move to take it. They stood staring at each other, neither one willing to give in to the other. Finally, she turned her eyes away and laid the coat on the table and stepped away from Spike. 

"Marissa, I’m not trying to be the big meany here, but Spike’s right, you froze, you couldn’t handle even seeing him. How are you going to fight him alone? You can’t, but then again, you don’t have too," Buffy said. 

"Yeah, that’s what’s so neat about having a Slayer around. You’re never alone in a good fight," Xander said jokingly. "Or in a bad one either, for that matter." 

Marissa ignored him. She spoke directly to Buffy. "You do not understand what you are getting yourself into here. Darius wants me, not you. This is not your fight. It is mine." 

"You mentioned a prophecy in the Van, what prophecy?" Willow asked. She moved closer to the table. "I think you called it ‘The Gift’?" 

"Darius has always held a strong interest in old prophecies and legends. He believes they will bring him power, Marissa said. "He collected them like old coins. He would go to great lengths to find and own them. In the late part of the 1800's he found one that had been written by Areolas The Wizard." 

"Areolas. Yes, I’ve heard of him, he was a sorcerer for Lether the Beast. Lether was a lesser known King, he lived during the time of Attila the Hun, he was . . . well, his exploits were overshadowed by . . . ah, certain things that the Hun had became well known for." Giles had removed his glasses during this speech and turned to one of the dusty tombs sitting on the counter. 

"Damn what luck. A guy tries to do his best at raping and pillaging and gets knocked off the pillar by ole Attila, what a shame," quipped Xander. 

"Areolas wrote many prophecies, some have come true, others were just meaningless jumbles of words. He wrote one called ‘The Gift’. It is about a woman, who can bring great gifts and powers to the man who walks at her side." Marissa said. 

"Yes." Giles had found what he wanted, he read from the book aloud. "Areolas The Wizard, Sorcerer and Alchemist, he lived during the 1200's. He was one of the foremost alchemists of his time. It was rumored he actually could turn cheap metals into precious metals. He was reputed to have written thousands of prophecies." 

He looked up from the pages. "And your telling us that Darius has found one of Areolas’s prophecies and has attributed it to you?" 

"Yes, he is under the mistaken assumption that The Gift was written about me. He searched for a woman who fit the prophecy. He found me traveling with Spike and Angelus at the turn of the century and stayed with us for quite a while, watching and learning about me. I found out all this information during my stay with him," Marissa answered. 

"And how did you come to be staying with him?" Spike asked. The others could see the demon fighting to get out. He couldn’t stand the thought of Marissa alone with Darius. "You mentioned San Francisco in the van." 

"Yes. Druscilla must have called him and told him where to find me. I told you I saw you on the pier and a few hours later Darius’ men found me in the warehouse. They knocked me unconscious; when I woke up I was in some kind of basement cell, chained to the wall. He told me that I must have angered someone from our past, I thought he was speaking of you, but he must have meant Druscilla. She wanted me gone, and she did a fine job of it I would say." 

"What did he do to you?" Spike questioned her. 

She ignored him. "Darius believes that The Gift was written for him and I. He believes through me he will attain vast amounts of power." 

"Exactly what is The Gift?" Giles asked. 

Marissa turned from the group and started to recite, she had memorized these words till they were imprinted on her heart. Her voice was emotionless, as if the words didn’t touch her. 

There will be a woman of strength and might; 

She will walk in the world of light and dark; 

By her side will walk a man of both worlds. 

They shall walk in unity, walk as one. 

Their paths shall twine, and split; 

Always to return as one. 

To repay their goodness, they shall be gifted from God; 

The power, the richness, the world, will be given to them. 

And they shall reign together forever . . . 

The library was quiet; no one said a word. 

But as always it was too much for Xander. "So what your saying is that he wants his riches and power, and he thinks you’re the only one who can get it for him?" 

"Exactly." Marissa smiled and she turned back toward the group. "You have such a way with words’ Xander." 

"Yes, he certainly does," Giles said. "Just how badly does he want this power and riches?" 

"He will stop at nothing to get what he wants, and right now, all of you stand in his way," Marissa said. "He will not like that one bit." 

"I don’t bloody care what he wants and doesn’t want, he’s not getting you," Spike said. 

"For once I have to agree with Dead Boy No. 2," Xander said. "You’re one of us now, and we don’t turn our friends over to bad evil guys. No matter what." 

"I have not had too many friends in my life, and I do not want to lose the few that I have now. I have trained and studied for this moment for the past 12 years, let me handle it. Please?" Marissa pleaded. 

"I’m sorry, but friends don’t let friends fight alone," Buffy said. "We’re in this no matter what, so we have to figure out some kind of plan. Can you tell us everything you guys know about Darius, everything we need to know if we’re going to defeat him?" 

Everyone turned to the books that Giles was rifling through on the counter. Marissa just stood and stared at them. They were not listening to her, and she had to make them listen. This just wasn’t some ordinary vampire they were up against here. She had to make them understand. "You cannot just open a book and fight Darius, he is much more complex than that." 

"Then help us understand, tell us what we need to know," Buffy said. "You don’t understand something here Marissa. This is what I do, I fight evil, and if what you say is true, Darius is right up my alley. So tell us, what exactly are we talking about here. What kind of power does he have?" 

"Rissa, I told you earlier, you’re not alone any more," Spike said emphatically. "And one thing I have come to understand about these humans, these particular humans, is that they will fight to the death for what they believe in, and they believe in you." 

"Spike is right, you’re not alone anymore, you don’t have to face Darius alone, we’re all with you on this. Just trust us, ok." Angel smiled at her. 

Tears welled up in Marissa’s eyes. She couldn’t understand this, just as she couldn’t understand the trust that they placed in each other. Why? Why were they willing to do this for her? Angel answered her questions. 

"We care about you, we won’t let him hurt you, you’ve done so much for me, let us help you now?" Angel took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Tell us how to fight him." 

"My papers, I’ll need my books and papers, their back at your apartment building. I’ll have to go and get them," Marissa said. 

"I’ll go, you stay here. I can get there in my car a lot quicker," Spike said. "You can fill everyone in on what they need to know." 

"Your car is still at the Bronze. I’ll drive you to get it," Oz said. 

"I have to go with you, you will never find them, I have them hidden in a safe place," Marissa said. "I shall return with the things we will need. Until then, Giles you may find the Areolas prophecies in ‘Jocobus’ Works of Ancient Legends’, Volume 6. Do you have that work?" 

"Yes I do, I have his complete works, up to Volume 34 I do believe." Giles turned to his office and went through the door. He was already enjoying the effects of a good research hunt. 

"I guess we’re on stake sharping detail again?" Cordelia asked. Up until now the girl had been strangely quiet. "It’s just so hard imagining a guy with such great looks being so evil?" 

"Down girl, this is the bad guy we’re talking about. No fantasizing about the bad guys, understand?" Xander said. 

"I could understand if he wasn’t such a great dresser, but how come the bad guys get to dress so cool," Cordi turned to Xander, " and you dress so . . . so . . . layered?" 

"Hey, layers are good, layers protect the muscles," Xander said as he steered her toward Giles locker of weapons. 

"What muscles?" The girl said snidely. 

  

Chapter XIX 

Darius sat behind the old oak desk as if he was born to be there, but if one was to know the truth he was born in a dirt ditch on a battlefield somewhere in the early dawn of Rome. He never knew his father, let alone his name. His mother was one of the whores that followed the armies of soldiers from battle to battle. He learned at a very young age that nothing was ever going to be handed to him. If he wanted something, he took it. He stole to keep himself alive, food, money, clothes, whatever he needed, he took. He was caught many times, very often he was beaten or jailed for the things he had done. It was after one of those times that he returned to the hovel his mother and he shared to find her lifeless body, she had been dead for days. There had been no one to worry about her besides him, no one to help her. From that day forward he swore that he would never care about another living soul. He had kept that promise. 

He had wondered from town to town until he was old enough to join the Roman army, then he had found a reason for living, a passion that still to this day filled him with a wonder and beauty he had yet to replace with anything else. Killing gave him a sense of power, it became a drug to him, a euphoria that he had never experienced before, greater than sex, greater than anything he had ever felt. The first time he had killed was when he was 14 years old. The soldier in front of him had taken him for a child, laughed at him, even as they fought. That was his fatal mistake. Darius had run his sword through the man’s chest while he still laughed, he died with the sound of his own laughter echoing in his ears. That day, Darius had stood on that bloody field and felt shivers crawl up his spine, he had looked down at the man laying at his feet, although there were hundreds of bodies on the ground that day, this body was his, he had done this, his work. He felt a power and essence fill his soul, a blackness that crept into him and stayed. When the tingling ceased, Darius knew he had found his calling. 

Darius had lost his soul long before he had become a vampire. 

He had met Maetha in a small town somewhere, he had long since forgotten the name, she had been traveling with a band of Egyptian dancers and whores. He had thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had a presence surrounding her. Watching her was like killing for Darius. He got that same feeling in the base of his spine. He had to meet her. He had no choice. He gave her money to dance for him, and she had, for hours he sat and watched her, waiting, he didn’t even know what he was waiting for, but he knew something was happening here, something he had waited for his entire life. When the music had finally stopped, she had approached him and sat down beside him, for a moment he had wondered if he had been wrong, that she wasn’t any different from any of the other whores he had bought and paid for. 

"I see into your soul through your eyes, and you are in a dark, dark place," she had said to him. "I too am in a dark place. We should walk together through this path, no?" 

"I will walk with you to the ends of the Earth." Darius had said, but he didn’t remember thinking the thought. It’s like she was in his soul, he understood then that she was what he had been waiting for, she was the one who would show him his true path in life. 

The rest of the night was all hazy for Darius. He remembered the pain and the joy, and then the hunger. It was a hunger unlike any he had ever felt, not even when he was a small boy and went days without food. This hunger rivaled anything he could imagine. The burning, the searing, it controlled him. The haze cleared a few hours before dawn, he lay in his tent, Maetha sat and smiled a strange smile at him. He looked down to find the lifeless body of another young dancer in his arms. The memories of the night slowly came back to him, and he shuddered. 

"I knew the minute I saw you, I knew that you were one of us, one of the Chosen Children of Satan." Maetha spoke quietly. "We will be happy together, won’t we lover?" 

And they were happy together, well at least for a while. For more than a hundred years they traveled together, reeking havoc wherever they went. But soon Darius grew bored with Maetha, bored with the same thing over and over again. He wanted something new, Maetha went straight for the kill, whereas Darius wanted to play with his victims a little. One too many times Maetha had overstepped herself as far as Darius was concerned, she was his Sire, but he was not the type to take orders, he couldn’t sit back and let her dictate to him. He felt she just didn’t understand him enough, didn’t quite get the picture when it came to who was in charge. 

The final straw came when one night in Bath, a small resort town in England she fumbled his attempts to take a mother and daughter into one of his plans. He wanted to turn them, bring them into their circle. She felt he should just feed and move on. So he told her his plans, Maetha would lure them to her room, tell them she was a runaway bride who was all alone, lost without her mother and sister. Once they were in her rooms he would take them, bring them into their world, unfortunately she left them in the common room. She told him she had changed her mind, she didn’t want anyone else joining them, she wanted it to remain the two of them. So Darius just smiled and took her into his arms, he proceeded to tell her how much he adored her, how much he loved her. He brought her to the peak of satisfaction . . . then drove a stake deep into her heart. The euphoria that hit him as he lay there with her dust surrounding him rivaled the orgasmic feeling he had felt in that field long ago. It was a sweet kill, one he would remember with a smile for the rest of his days. He never even felt a twinge of regret, he would not be controlled, he would never be a follower, he would lead, he would direct his own life. Never again would he let some whining woman dictate to him what should or shouldn’t be. Since that day he chose his own companions, vampires that would serve and protect his interest at no matter what cost. 

That thought brought him back to the present. Druscilla was beginning to become a problem, she pestered him day and night to kill the slayer, return her men to her. Darius didn’t know how much more he could take from her. Her incessant whining was starting to grate on his nerves. And her madness was more of a plague than a help to him. How in the hell did Angelus and Spike survive living with this woman. No wonder they both left her. He had already decided to kill her the minute she was no longer needed for his plans. 

As if thinking of her could call her forth, Druscilla boldly swept into the room, dragging her sculptured nails over the fine silk wallpaper that hung on the walls. When he took over this dwelling from the Professor who had been his first victim in this hellhole of a town, he didn’t know the joy it would bring him to sit in these well-furnished rooms and walk the halls of this mansion. Maybe when Marissa was returned to him, and all of this was behind him. He would stay. Stay and live here for however long he liked. Until he became bored again and eventually moved on. 

"Darius, I feel the need, the need to do something, I need my boys back with me, when will you bring them to me?" Druscilla never even looked at Darius as she strolled around the room. "I’ve waited to long as it is, I need them, now." 

If she had bothered looking at him, she would have known that now was not the time to ask him for anything. The look that came into Darius eyes was not a good one. The yellow glow of the Demon shown brightly in his eyes. 

"Druscilla, I told you my dear, there is a time for everything, I will do what I have to do in my own time. Be patient my dear, soon." Darius steepled his fingers and turned to watch her. 

"Patience is for children. I could eat a child right now, may we go hunting for a nice plumb little boy?" Druscilla turned and faced him for the first time. She didn’t see the glow, Darius had masked it seconds before she turned. "We haven’t hunted since the night you let them escape from that club." 

"I let them escape for the plain and simple reason that I didn’t choose to kill them then and there, I have need of them, they will bring me Marissa when the time is right. As I said, I have plans for Marissa, what you do with Angelus and Spike is of no concern to me when this is all done, but until then you will wait, do you understand me Druscilla?" He smiled like a father indulging his favorite child. 

Which set Druscilla off into one of her pleading modes. "But I don’t like to wait, Spike never made me wait. He would do anything I ask of him. Why won’t you?" 

"Because my dear, I’m not Spike. And Spike is making you wait now isn’t he? Where is your precious Spike at this moment?" Darius taunted her. "Well, where do you think he is?" 

"Probably with that whore Marissa." Druscilla pouted. She moved to stand behind Darius’s chair. She placed her hands on his shoulders. 

The chair spun so fast out of her hands she almost fell, Darius grabbed her boney arms as he stood and pulled her up to his eye level. "If you want that misbegotten cur back in your bed, never, I repeat, never mention her name with his again. Marissa belongs to me, do you understand? He touches her and I will kill him. It’s that simple" 

Druscilla whimpered and hunched her shoulders. "Your frightening me, please Darius, my Spikie loves me, he doesn’t want her anymore. He would never touch her, not when he can have me." 

Darius just shook his head and stared into her eyes, seeing the insanity there. He couldn’t believe that this stupid arrogant woman thought that any man would prefer her to Marissa. 

He left her drop to the floor. Until this was over, he needed her, her and her minions to help him. But when this was over and he received everything that was due him, this insane lump of dead flesh would feed his minions. Just thinking about watching her die brought a smile to his face. Druscilla mistook that smile for a sign that all was right in her world again. She lay her head onto Darius chest and rubbed her porcelain cheek on his silk shirt. "Everything will be back to normal soon. You will have your precious Marissa back, and Angel and Spike will be mine again. You’ll see. Mine again." 

  

Chapter XX 

Marissa inserted the key into the door. She pushed the door open and stepped through. Turning, she held the door open to let Spike enter. 

"I will just be a minute." She turned to a small trunk which sat at the end of the rod iron bed. She kneeled down and inserted another key into the small steel lock. Lifting the lid with one hand, she reached in and started removing various books and notepads from the trunk. When the trunk was completely empty, she used her index fingers to pry up two corners, the bottom came up with a small popping sound. 

Spike stood at the door looking around the room. On every dresser and table top were candles of various colors, shapes and sizes. He remembered how she loved the candlelight dancing off of the walls. He smiled down at her, watching her small and shapely rear without even realizing what he was doing. 

Standing, she turned and caught him looking at her. She saw the look in his eyes and turned back to the trunk. She should never have allowed him to bring her here. While they were in Oz’s van she didn’t have to worry about what to say, Oz had turned the radio on and they had sat quietly and listened to the music. But once Oz dropped them off at Spike’s car she became nervous and tense. She didn’t want to be alone with him, not after their conversation at the Bronze tonight. No, enough had been said between them. 

In her hand she held various notepads and mini tape cassettes. She turned and carried them to a small desk she had purchased at a second hand furniture store, she had needed somewhere to sit and do her research at night. She pulled a cloth tote bag from the shelf over the desk and started packing the items into it. She opened a small drawer and removed a tape recorder and two very old books. She placed those items in the bag too. She reached up on the top shelf and removed a small wooden box, she opened it and checked through the eclectic items that were scattered inside. Herbs, incense, feathers and what looked like small bones were among the contents. 

"Is that your witch’s brewing box?" Spike asked as he walked up behind her. 

"It is just some of the things I use in my castings." Marissa said as she finished putting all the things she thought she would need into the tote bag. "Different things for different spells." 

"Is Darius the reason you became involved in witchcraft? You never showed a interest in it before." Spike said as he took the bag out of her hands. 

She reluctantly let him take the bag from her. "Yes, I swore I would be prepared if I ever came in contact with him again." 

"You didn’t look prepared tonight." 

"I was . . . not expecting to see him. I am over my shock." Marissa turned to collect another book off the shelf. 

"So what happens when you see him again?" Spike moved closer to her forcing her to back into the desk. 

"I will deal with it, I will be ready," Marissa looked everywhere but at his face. "I will be able to handle it. You do not have to worry about me." 

"Like I have a bleeding choice." Spike muttered. 

Her head snapped up, she looked directly into his eyes. "You do have a choice. I am not your responsibility . . . Spike." 

"Ouch, you have developed an independent streak haven’t you?" Spike laughed out loud. "Baby, I couldn’t walk away from you right now if my life depended on it." 

"It may. You have never fought Darius. You have no ideal what he is capable of. You are not the hero type Spike, just walk away, it is what you do so well." Marissa stared into his eyes as she made this statement. 

"I really did a number on you didn’t I?" Spike asked. He reached up and touched her cheek as he spoke. She went stiff at his touch but she didn’t pull away. 

"Do not do this, please." Marissa’s voice trembled when she spoke. 

"Why, are you afraid of finding out your not as indifferent to me as you like to think you are?" Spike continued to caress her check. Marissa closed her eyes. She turned her face away. 

"I cannot do this, not with you," she spoke so quietly he barely heard her. 

"I love you." Spike boldly said. "If Darius is gonna try to hurt you I can’t stand by and do nothing. I admit I’ve never been hero boy, but with you it’s different. I hurt you enough in your lifetime. I won’t allow anyone else too." 

Marissa’s whole body went taunt, she couldn’t do this, not now, her nerves were stretched too far to handle this. "I am not the same person I was before, Darius made sure of that. I will not be protected and shielded ever again. I take care of me now, no one else has too." 

"What did he do to you?" Spike asked. "What did he do to get this damn Gift you told us about?" 

Marissa shook her head. She pushed hard against Spike’s chest and stepped away from him, turning her back on him. "It is none of your business what happened between Darius and me. No one will ever hurt me like that again, not him, not you." 

He could hear the tears in her voice. It almost broke his heart, but something inside of him would not leave it alone, he had to know. He followed her across the room and took her into his arms. The emotions he had felt in the Bronze slammed into him again. "I promise you baby I won’t hurt you. Ever again. I’m not any good with words, I’ve never had to sprout pretty phrases or write beautiful poetry. But I can tell you this, I do love you, I’m sorry I left you with Angel, but if I had kept you with me Dru would have killed you baby. I did the only thing I could think of to save you. Hate me for it, but I did it to protect you." 

"But Druscilla still hurt me, you sent me away and she still hurt me. So what difference did it make in the end. It might have put it off longer, but she still got her revenge." The tears ran down Marissa’s face, he was making her face things she didn’t want to. 

Spike took his thumb and traced one of the tears, he raised it to his lips and sucked on it, the salty flavor lingered on his tongue. "I wish I had never met you." 

Marissa sucked useless air into her lungs and held it there, she couldn’t believe what he just said, couldn’t believe that the one thing that kept her alive while Darius held her didn’t mean anything to him, she had thought it but to actually hear him say it hurt like hell. 

Spikes’ hands firmly grasped her jawline and pulled her face closer to his. "No, that is not what I meant, I love you, I’ve loved you since you were 15 years old. What I meant is that every ounce of pain you have had in your life can be directly related to me, Angelus, Druscilla, and especially Darius." 

"Darius is not your fault. I blamed you at first, but I did not understand. I thought Druscilla was not capable of calling him. I just remembered how enthralled you were of him." Marissa said quietly. 

"At one time, but I came to understand that he is like Dru, he’s insane on his power. That bored me to tears rather quickly." Spike told her. "I wouldn’t wish him on my worst enemy . . . well yes, I would come to think of it." 

Marissa smiled at the humor in Spike’s statement. But she wasn’t expecting what came next. Spike slowly bent his head and brushed his lips against hers. She reacted without thinking. She pushed against him as hard as she could, screaming at the same time. He let go of her so quickly she stumbled to her knees. 

"No, do not touch me, please don’t hurt me, please . . ." 

He reached both arms out for her, but she crawled away from him. He didn’t understand where this reaction had come from. "Ris, what’s wrong. Baby . . ." 

She tried to crawl under the bed, but there wasn’t enough room, she turned blindly searching for some place to hide, anywhere to get away from him, she had to hide, she couldn’t let Darius touch her again. 

Spike had no way of knowing that the minute he had kissed her Darius’s face had flashed acrossed her mind. Her mind had suddenly recalled the last man to touch her lips, the last man to get that close to her. He had no way of knowing that in her mind he had become Darius. He moved slowly, he kneeled in front of her and took her into his arms, she fought him, but he persisted. She clawed and scratched at him until she was too tired to fight any longer. When she finally quieted, he sat turning her away from him, he pulled her back against his chest. He leaned back against the bookshelf, holding her like he would never let her go. It had never entered his mind that Darius had used her in that way. Sex was not a major part of a vampires life. Blood replaced sex in his world, not too many of his kind indulged in the physical part anymore. He understood that some vampires still had sex but usually just as a use of foreplay with a victim. Druscilla only wanted it after a big kill. He knew that Angel had a sexual relationship with the slayer, but hell he loved her. Love wasn’t usually something that happened to the dead. He was under the impression he was the only vampire to actually love another of his own kind. He didn’t see much evidence to the contrary. But then again, he knew love hadn’t had anything to do with what Darius had done to Ris. 

"Shhhh little one, its ok, nothing is going to hurt you. I promise" Spike spoke slowly and quietly he didn’t want to frighten her anymore. "I’m sorry, I won’t touch you again unless you want me too, all right?" 

"Why would you even want to touch me?" Marissa asked him. "No man would want me, not after what Darius has done to me." 

"Bullshit." 

Marissa turned and looked into his eyes. Didn’t he understand what she had just said? Didn’t he realize what Darius had done to her? He had made her feel dirty, too dirty to even contemplate having a normal "human" relationship ever again. 

"Whatever happened goes on Darius’s head, not yours, you were not responsible." Spike told her. 

"Saying it does not change it, he raped me, over and over again. He believes that the Gift will only come to him if we are One. In the basic sense." Marissa told him as she turned to settle into his arms again. 

"I still want you." Spike said as his arms tightened around her. "Hell your damn lucky I didn’t make love to you on that damn dance floor tonight." 

"You made me feel that way too." Marissa said shyly. "I could not think of anything else when you held me in your arms." 

"I’m holding you in my arms now, how does that make you feel?" Spike asked her. "If it makes you all scared inside, just let me know ok?" 

"No, not scared, I know who you are this time. I am sorry for reacting the way I did. I think I had a flashback. I thought of Darius when you kissed me." Marissa said. 

"Do you flashback a lot?" Spike asked. 

"Not in a few years, right after I got away, I had flashbacks all the time. I usually blacked out afterwards. That is how Brother Luca found me. I had passed out in an alley near the shelter he ran in Canada." Marissa told him. 

"How did you get away?" Spike knew Darius. He was amazed that Marissa made it out alive. 

"Do you remember Diego, the young Spanish vampire that was always with Darius?" At Spikes nod, Marissa went on. "He was jealous of me, it turns out that they have more of a bond than master and servant. He did not like the fact that Darius was centering all his time on me. He wanted me gone, so one night he left the key to my chains laying at my feet and told me to be gone by morning, that’s it. It took me hours to finally reach that key, but I did it. And I never looked back. I found out we were in Seattle, WA and I made my way over the border into Canada. That is when Brother Luca found me, he cleaned me up and helped me." 

"I guess I owe him then." Spike said. 

"Owe him for what?" Marissa asks him. 

"For bringing you back into my life." Spike simply stated. 

"Am I back into your life, how do you figure this?" Marissa questioned him. 

"I’ve decided I’m not letting you go this time. No matter how long it takes you to face this fact." Spike said. 

"It is not your decision to make. It does not make a difference anyway. I do not think I can have the kind of relationship your asking for." Marissa spoke so quietly he barely heard her. 

"I’m holding you now and you’re not running away, want to try an experiment?" Spike chuckled. 

"What experiment?" Marissa asks. 

"This." Spike bent his head and pressed his lips to her ear. "Does this frighten you?" 

"N . . . no." Marissa stuttered. It didn’t frighten her, but it made her feel things she hadn’t felt in a long time. She could feel her womb throbbing. She felt a tinglieness slowly moving up her insides. 

"What about this?" He moved his hand and gently laid it against her lower belly, once again she felt her insides tighten. He pressed his hand inward pulling her tighter against him. Her bottom was pressed into the V of his legs. She felt his erection against her lower back. For one second she stiffened, his fingers relaxed. After a few moments he gentled tugged her against him again. 

"How does this make you feel?" Spike whispered into her ear, reaching out with his tongue he swirled it in the creases of her upper ear. 

"I . . .I do not know what you want from me . . . you cannot want me, you . . ." Marissa’s voice shook. 

He pressed his hips into hers. "What does this tell you, you think I can just turn that on and off?" 

Marissa turned her head and looked into his eyes. "Why, why are you doing this? Are you trying to help the little freak? Trying to reassure me that I am not one of Darius’s cast off?" 

"I’m being the selfish son-of-a-bitch that I am. I want you, here, tonight. I want you on this floor in that bed, anywhere I can have you." Spike said bluntly. 

"The others . . . they are waiting for us . . . we cannot do this, not . . . not now." Marissa’s voice trembled as she spoke. No matter what she said Spike knew he wasn’t the only one effected. 

"They’ll wait. It’s not as if their going anywhere tonight." He decided to go for broke, see what she would do. "I’m gonna kiss you again, do you want that?" 

Marissa opened her lips to deny him. She couldn’t let him do this. 

"Yes." Once again her brain took over for her. 

Spike’s lips pressed against hers. She opened her mouth to tell him no, brought her hands up to push him away. But it never happened, she opened her mouth and his tongue pressed inside. The world stopped at that moment, everything else disappeared, the people waiting on them at the library, Darius, the world. Nothing else mattered. Spike was the only thing she was aware of. She darted her tongue across his, lightly, gently like a child taking her first steps. This is something they had done a thousand times before, but it felt different tonight, more sensitive, more exotic. She felt her womb clench again. She laid her open hands on his chest, ran them up to his collarbone and curled her fingers around his neck. Spike moved his hand up her stomach coming to rest at the gentle slope of her breast, he stretched his finger’s up until he felt the small nub pressing against her dress. He twirled it between his thumb and forefinger. 

Spike lifted his head, her lips tried to follow him but he wouldn’t let her kiss him again, not yet. "Do you want me to stop?" 

Marissa looked into his eyes, she didn’t understand what he had said, she had seen his lips move, but she couldn’t comprehend the words. He spoke again. "Do you want me to stop? This is your last chance, if you say yes, we stop, we’re out of here and back to the library. But if you say no, once we start I won’t be able to stop, do you understand me Ris?" 

"Yes I understand you." She looked into his face. Did she want to stop, did she want this to end? If Darius killed her tomorrow would she want to die without being in William’s arms again? 

"Make love to me William, please?" Marissa said. She hadn’t finished saying the words before Spike stood with her in his arms and walked to the bed, placing one knee on the coverlet he laid her down gently with her head back against the white lace pillowcases. He pulled his arms out of his duster and threw it on the floor. She reached for him, but he laid her arms onto the bed along side her head. 

"Wait." He said. He walked to the dresser and picked something up. Marissa heard the strike of a match and watched him light the many candles she had around the room. As he passed the door he reached up and flicked the switch and the room was engulfed in candlelight. 

"You remembered." Marissa said shyly. The time he spent lighting the candles also gave her time to compose herself. She wanted this, no matter what happened between them after tonight, she wanted this moment. 

Spike smiled. "You like the way the candlelight shimmers against the walls, turning everything into a magical place. Yes, I remember. I remember everything about you Ris." 

He walked back to the bed, sitting down beside her he started to unbutton his shirt. She reached up and helped him, as soon as the shirt was removed he reached for her dress straps. 

"I do like this dress, have I mentioned that yet?" Spike said as he pulled her straps down her arms, she pulled her arms free and lifted her hips up as he pulled the dress off of her. It joined his shirt on the floor. She lay there in nothing but black lace underwear, he ran a finger over the elastic waistband and chuckled. "No as enticing as the underwear, but I still like the dress." 

"It was Willow’s idea. She and Cordelia dressed me tonight. For you I imagine." She lightly stroked her fingers up his cool chest. He put his hands over hers and slowly maneuvered them down to his zipper. 

"Red has more going on in that brain of hers than research I’d say." Spike smiled. 

Marissa pressed her fingers against his zipper, she felt how hard he was, she knew he wanted her, the evidence was under her palm. She lightly squeezed him through the material. "I would say Oz is a lucky boy." 

"Not as lucky as I am." Spike said. He bent down and kissed her again. Her mouth opened under his, running her tongue over his lips, she sucked his bottom lip into her mouth. Spike’s groan told her he approved. 

He pulled away and stood and in one motion opened his pants and thrust them down his hips. He stepped out of them, using one foot he tossed them to the small pile that was growing on the floor. 

He joined her on the bed, laying on his side. He pulled her against him. His hardness pressing into her belly. "I don’t want to hurt you, but I don’t know how long I can last. It’s been a long time for me." 

"But what about Druscilla?" Marissa asked, she didn’t want to know, but the question was out of her mouth before she could stop herself. 

"Dru hasn’t been in my bed since Angelus returned to the fold." Spike told her. "And even before that we didn’t have a normal relationship. Dru’s appetites are different. She’s more into pain than sex. I’ve never made love to Dru." 

"Is that what we are going to do, make love?" Marissa asks. 

He smiled and slowly turned them until she was half under him. Yes, that is what we are doing, what do you want from me "bend over baby?" 

Marissa chuckled. "Bend over baby, is that one of your favorite lines? No wonder it has been a long time for you." 

"You’d be amazed at what works." He said with a smile. He lowered his head and trailed his lips down her collarbone. Nipping and licking his way between her breasts. He moved his head to the side and took her nipple into his mouth, sucking lightly. He heard her gasp. He swirled it around with his tongue. Then bit down gently. 

Marissa couldn’t stop the moan that escaped her lips, nor the shivers that went through her body. She hadn’t felt this way in a long time. Darius’ touch had brought her pain, nothing but pain. Thinking of him brought a coldness over her body. Spike felt her go stiff. He raised his head to look into her face. 

"What baby, did I hurt you?" He asks her. 

"No, just a ghost coming back to haunt me." Marissa lifted her hand and stroked it over the back of his head. "Ghosts that can never hurt me again." 

He knew she was thinking about Darius. "Its Darius’ shame, not yours, never yours." 

"Touch me William, make me forget." She asks him. 

And he did. 

part 6 

by bec 

Chapter XXI 

Xander set the stack of books down onto the table and stalked to the donut box.. If they wanted him to work, they had to expect him to eat. Reaching in, he snagged a chocolate and sprinkled one. He opened his mouth and prepared to shove it in. 

"And what does that make, five or six?" Cordelia asks. "Why don’t you have one of these, they’re better for you?" She waved an orange stick in the air as she spoke. 

"A carrot stick! You expect me to eat a carrot stick! In five hours I’ve had a donut an hour, that’s not a bad ratio, not in my book." Smiling he took a big bite and chewed in her direction. 

Giles came down the stairs from the stacks, reading out of a rather large dusty old tome. "I’ve found Darius. Nineteen Seventeen, Germany. He set up shop with a small band of vampires in Darscher, a small village that was destroyed in World War One. Strangely the war did not touch Darcher. For unknown reasons practically the entire village went missing. For unknown reasons, I’d say Darius and his cohorts were the unknown reason." 

"What reference is that?" Angel asked moving toward Giles. 

"The diary of Watcher Joseph Zimmerman, 1842 till 1903." Giles handed the book to Angel. "This is it, after five hours we still have nothing. I need to see Marissa’s papers. They should have returned by now." 

"Maybe we should go and look for them?" Willow said looking up from the computer screen. She was starting to lose her concentration. Maybe a change of atmosphere would help wake her up. 

"No." Angel said, "I think Spike and Marissa need some time alone right now." 

"Yeah, we all know why Spike wants Marissa alone right now?" Xander said. "I’m with Willow, let’s go check on them." 

"There is no need to check on anyone." Marissa said as she and Spike came through the double doors. "We are here, and we are fine. I have my notes and things for you to go over Giles, everything we will need is in here." She laid everything on the counter and turned to see all the faces staring at her and Spike. 

"What, what is the matter?" She asks the blank faces staring at them. 

"We were just wondering where you two had gotten too." Willow smirked. 

"Yeah, you were gone a long time, just picking up books were you?" Buffy looked at Marissa with a grin in her eyes. 

"We were talking, you know the concept, I talked, she talked. Talking." Spike said. 

"Is that what you call it? We call it something else here in America dead boy. We call it . . ." Xander never got to finish. Spike turned and glared at him. 

Xander could say and do anything he wanted to him, but he was not going to let him upset Marissa with his stupid innuendos. 

"Well let’s get down to business shall we." Giles interrupted. Everyone stepped up to the counter and took a book and starting checking through them. 

"Let’s see," Oz read out loud, "okie dokie ‘Wiccan Reference Guide’, Will, I think this one’s for you. He handed the book to the red head. 

"Oh, Wiccan stuff, I love reading Wiccan stuff, the plot is so good and the action is . . . well nonexistent really." The girl giggled to herself. Oz smiled at her. Oz understood Willow’s humor, most people didn’t, but Oz always did. "Here," she said, "you get ‘Arthurian Legends’, that should keep ya occupied for a while." 

Xander sat down at the table, he read the cover of his book skeptically, "I don’t think this is going to entertain me ‘Wentworth’s Fables and Tales’, I haven’t been into fairy tales in years." 

"It is not to entertain you, you are to be looking for references to legends and prophecy’s that would possibly draw Darius out." Marissa said to him. 

"We’re supposed to draw him out with children stories?" Xander asked. 

"A lot of the old myths and children stories that you read today have a lot of fact from actual myths and legends." Marissa said. "Read." 

She noticed Giles picking up a worn leather bound volume from the counter. She put her hand over the cover and looked him in the eye. "This book is for your eye’s only." Marissa told him quietly. "This is my journal. I am trusting this to you. There is no reason for the children to read this. Or Angel. Agreed?" 

"I understand completely." Giles said. He took the journal and headed into his office, where he could read in peace, with no heads peeking over his shoulder. 

"Ok, so the three of us are going to go scout the city, see if we can find anything that would lead us to Darius. Is that all right with you teach?" Buffy teased Marissa. 

Marissa turned to Buffy, Angel and Spike, the three were already heading out the door. "Be careful, do not let your guards down, all right?" 

Spike turned and looked at her, he had that leer in his eye, the one she loved so much, half playful, half deadly. "Always my sweet, always." 

"So Spike, you gonna drool on the floor all night or are we out of here?" Buffy playfully said. A slayer could get used to teasing Spike she thought with a smile. 

"You talking to me or your boyfriend over there?" Spike nodded his head at Angel. 

"Angel doesn’t drool. He has manners." Buffy said as the door shut behind them. Angel threw a grin toward Spike over Buffy’s shoulder. 

Marissa watched the doors swing shut behind them. She prayed that they would return safely. She turned back to the books and papers on the counter. 

Xander pulled her attention from the books. "Marissa, Cordi thinks she has a idea on how to find Darius, you might want to listen to her, after all if our girl knows anything its her fashion do’s and don’ts." 

*************** 

The memories that enter my head now that it is over, shame me. At the time I just wanted to die. Darius kept me weak and alone, locked in the chains for years on end. Only releasing me to rape me. I did not think I could stand the pain anymore. I was weak, a coward. I let him turn me into an animal. I would have done anything he told me to do, just to stop the pain. If William could have seen me then, would he have wanted me? Would he have been able to remember the girl I had been, the women he had loved? 

But as time went on, the thought kept entering my head that I could make Darius kill me. I started taunting him. Saying such outrageous things to him. Throwing in his face that he was a lousy lover, not a real man. I wanted him to kill me, I wanted this over with, I could not take it anymore. At the time I had no ideal what he wanted of me. I had no special powers, I could not grant him the gift he covets so badly. He would kill me now if he knew what the gift was. This gift he covets so badly is not what he expects it to be. He thought I could give him what he wanted, he would have killed me then if he knew I was not the one. 

Now my journey in life is to protect the one who can bring the gift forward, the one who will bring great joy and hope to the world. May I have enough strength to see this through. May God be with me, and with her . . . 

Giles closed the book and removed his glasses. He was amazed at what he had read. Amazed that Marissa had survived the torture of being held by Darius. He didn’t like the fact that Buffy or any of the children had to deal with this creature. They had to come up with a plan that destroyed Darius but kept them all safe. And they had to do it quickly. 

The door opened and Oz poked his head inside. "Hey Giles, Marissa wants you out here, she thinks Willow has found something." 

Giles laid the book face up and open on his desk, replacing his glasses he nodded at the boy. "Ah, yes, I’m coming." He stood and walked into the outer room. 

*************** 

"So he’s not hiding out in any of the factories or down at the docks, where does that leave us?" Buffy inquired of her companions. 

"We told you he wouldn’t be in any of those places. He likes his comforts too much to be stuck in a drafty old warehouse." Spike told her. 

"So where next?" Angel asked. 

"To that gas station on the corner." Buffy said, she turned and started walking toward the lighted building. 

"What the bloody hell are we going to find there?" Spike asked. 

She turned and smiled. "A bathroom. I know the concept of potty breaks don’t enter your world Spike, but I for one need to go to the ladies room." 

Buffy couldn’t hear Spike muttering to himself. "We go, we just wait a few years in between." 

As Buffy entered the bathroom, Angel turned to Spike and asked him a question that had been on his mind for a while now. "So how’s that blood bank deal working out for you?" 

"Bloody hell! You’ve lost all sense of taste in the last hundred years haven’t you? That crap is nasty, not the stuff I’ve been used to." Spike grimaced. 

"But it will keep you alive and you don’t have to worry about looking Marissa in the eye, right?" Angel asked with a smile. 

"And keeps the damn slayer off my back." Spike muttered. "And let me tell you that tip about microwaving it doesn’t work either. Still taste like cardboard. And those bastards who bring it out to me want more money, maybe I should just eat them. Save me money and satisfy my tastebuds at the same time." 

"Spike you kill and your one dead vampire. You’ve been helping a lot lately. I understand why, but you kill one person and Buffy will have your ass in a minute we both know that." Angel said. 

"Don’t worry about me, I’m doing fine. Hungry but fine." Spike turned toward the factory again. 

"It’s amazing what we do for them isn’t it?" Angel said with a grin. 

"What do you mean, for who?" Spike tried to act like he didn’t know what Angel was talking about. 

"The women we love, that’s who." Angel laid his hand on Spike’s shoulder, his grin had grown in size. 

Before Spike could answer a noise had him spinning away. 

"What was that?" 

"What?" Angel turned to see what he was looking at. He saw three shapes coming out of the shadows between two of the empty factories. "Vamps?" 

"I think so, what the hell is keeping the slayer?" Spike asked anxiously. 

"I’m here, what’s up?" The both turned to see Buffy coming up to join them. She saw the vampires immediately. "So who’s our lucky slayee’s tonight?" 

"Well I’ll be damned, lookie at what we have here." Spike said. 

"Jolly Roger, if I’m not mistaken." Angel said. 

The three vampires walked off along the pier, heading for Main Street. 

"Who’s Jolly Roger? A pirate vampire?" Buffy asked as they started following the three out into the street. They could barely make them out. They turned at the corner heading into the center of the city. 

"A really stupid minion of Darius’s." Angel smiled. "I think we have our lead, follow Roger and he’ll take us to Darius." 

"I can’t believe he has made it this long, he’s not exactly vampire material if you ask me." Spike said. 

"Well I guess Darius forgot to ask you." Buffy grinned. "So we follow dummy and he leads us to the big cheese right?" 

"One can hope." Angel said. 

They stayed on the three’s trail until they came to a large house in the section of town surrounding Sunnydale’s small college. They passed through a rod iron gate attached to a 6 foot wooden fence that surrounded a large house and quietly snuck around to the rear of the house. As Buffy and company came around the building, they saw the vampires enter what looked like a large two story stone garage. 

"He’s here." Spike said. 

"How do you know he’s here?" Angel questioned him. 

"He’s right. Darius or some other really big evil is inside of that garage." Buffy said. "I can feel him." She frowned. The last time she had felt this way was when she had gone up against the master, this was not a good feeling. 

"Seems being human again does have its drawbacks in your present career." Spike smirked at Angel. "You don’t sense him?" 

Angel looked at Spike and Buffy. "Nothing, not a thing. But to be sure one of us should try and see if they can physically spot him." 

"I’ll go." Spike took off before either one of them could stop him. 

"Damn it, he is so not the follow directions guy, is he?" Buffy said. She looked around, taking in her surroundings. "Good, there’s plenty of cover if we need it. Lot’s of trees and bushes, looks like whoever lives here has a thing about green things." 

The building was made out stone, with six windows, two on the bottom and 4 on the second level. Red shutters were on every window. The heavy wooden door was painted a matching red. There was a bench on either side of the door. Two steps lead up to the porch. The windows were about six feet off the ground, Buffy would need a boost to see into them. But Spike was tall enough to see in, hopefully he could tell them if their quarry was there or not. 

"Believe me if Darius is here, whoever lived here is dead." Angel whispered. 

"Oh, I didn’t think of that." Buffy said. 

Buffy looked over the house, it was about 25 feet away from the garage, shutters in the same shade of red were placed at each of the windows. All the windows were dark. Unlike the garage where lights were coming from all the windows. There were gardens and bushes between the buildings, different color flowers were spread through the yard. Buffy kept her eye on the house while Angel watched the garage. 

Just when she was ready to go after Spike, he was back. 

"Bigger than life, sitting in there just playing King of the Castle. It’s him." Spike growled. 

Buffy turned to look at him and saw he was in game face. 

"Why the fangs? Did you have any trouble?" Buffy ask. 

"No, just took everything I had not to go in there and rip his heart out." Spike said. "After what he did to Marissa I want this guy dead, as in dust dead you understand me?" 

"I understand how you feel, but we have to . . ." Buffy began. 

"No, you don’t understand how I feel little girl. You will never understand how I feel." Spike turned and walked away. 

As Buffy turned to follow him, Angel reached out and took hold of her elbow. "Let him go. He needs time to get control of the demon right now. He blames himself for what happened to Marissa, he’s the only one who can deal with it." 

She turned back to look at the stone building. "Well, this is good, trees, bushes, gives us plenty of places to hide when it comes time to attack. And no visibility from the street. Is this guy so secure in his self that he doesn’t need any lookouts?" 

"Darius has always thought highly of himself." Angel said. 

"Well, let’s get back to the library and let Giles know that we found our bad guy." 

They never looked back, if they would, they would have seen the door open and Darius step out into the night. "Run little slayer, run back to the nest. Soon my dear, soon." 

Chapter XXII 

Buffy and Angel entered the library bursting with their news. 

"Giles, we got it, Darius is staying in a big house over by the college . . . 

"1256 Burlington Way, the home of one Professor Nathan Greenly." Cordi told them with a huge smile. 

"Wha. . .how did you know?" Buffy asked, she looked at Angel. He was just as baffled as her. 

Xander walked up behind Cordi and slipped his arm around her shoulders. "It seems our Cordi does have a working brain after all." 

She glared at Xander for a moment then turned and faced Buffy again. "I called my father’s tailor and told him that Daddy had passed on the shop’s name to a business associate, I ask him if Daddy’s friend Darius had been in yet, he told me that Darius had been there. And I ask if he sent his order to the corporate address or his private address? Alex, he’s Daddy’s tailor, told me the address he had sent it too. It was that easy." 

"So why don’t I just wait here and you can go slay him, Cordi?" Buffy said sarcastically. 

"Well we have his address, now we have to figure out how to get to him." Angel said as he moved towards the table. 

"So they’ve taken over Professor Greenly’s house. He’s probably dead then. He was a good man, very interesting conversationalist. We’d spoken a few times at the Sunnydale Historical meetings." Giles said as he cleaned his glasses for the fourth time since hearing the news. 

"We’re sorry about your friend Giles. But, thank goodness the good Professor liked a lot of green things around him. There are enough bushes and trees around his house and garage to give us plenty of cover." Buffy told him. She had jumped up on the counter and was swinging her legs over the edge. 

Xander yawned and stretched his arms over his head, "So we’ve reconnoitered, we’ve researched, when do we attack?" 

"You don’t. I do." Buffy told him. "Angel, Spike and I go in. You stay here and protect the women folk." 

"Angel, why Angel, he’s just as human as I am now, why does he get to go and I don’t?" Xander complained. 

"Cause he ate all his veggies, that’s why" Buffy smiled. "Xander, Angel can handle himself going up against those vamps. He’s got a lot of strength left over from his vamp days. You don’t." 

"I am going too." Marissa said, she had been leafing through one of the books she brought from home, Willow had found a protection spell they might be able to use. "I know Darius, I know how he thinks, how he will react." 

"Let me guess, we attack, he defends. Yep, that’s about it." Buffy jumped down from the counter and faced Marissa. "Don’t take this the wrong way here, but you froze, what makes you think you’ll react any different next time?" 

"I am tired of explaining myself." Marissa leaned her head back and tried to defend herself, again. She brought her head down and looked Buffy in the eye. "I was momentarily surprised to find out he had managed to located me, I will be ready next time. Besides, I can be bait. He wants me, not you." 

"Like hell," The double doors slammed back against the walls with a thundering crash. Spike stood in the doorway. He was back in his human guise. "There is no way in hell I will let him near you, do you hear me?" 

Marissa closed her eyes and sighed. "The dead heard you. Must you act all macho, William? I can hold my own against Darius. And anyway he will be expecting that frozen little mouse he met in the alley, not the new and improved me." 

"So you’ve gotten new and improved in the last 24 hours, I don’t think so. You yourself said it. He’s evil, more evil than any other vampire that the Slayer has come up against, right? Your not as strong as the slayer, what makes you believe you can handle him now, when you couldn’t in the alley last night?" Spike waited for her answer. 

All eyes turned from Spike to Marissa, she felt like she was in some kind of crazed tennis match, they were waiting for her serve, waiting to see if she could win this point. And it angered her. 

"I do not know, but I will be damned if I am going to sit here and wait, while these children go out there defending me. There is no way I am NOT going to help them." Her eyes were blazing as she spoke. 

"Then help them," Spike walked to Marissa and slide his hands along her jawline, into her hair and gripped the back of her skull, "give them everything they need to know about Darius, but don’t underestimate these children. These children have been saving lives for a hell of a long time now. They know what they’re doing. Trust them." 

Xander turned and looked at Oz, "did Deadboy just compliment us? Is that what I just heard?" 

"I meant the Slayer and Red, not you." Spike never took his eyes off Marissa’s face. "I’m surprised you can dress yourself in the morning . . . boy." 

Buffy, Angel, Cordelia and Oz tried to hide their giggling, but weren’t very successful. Giles just smirked and looked down at the floor. Marissa spoke again before the boy could retaliate. 

"But I know everything they plan to do before they do it, all right?" Marissa asked. 

"Fair enough" Buffy said. "So Will, tell me about this protection spell again?" 

All heads turned to the computer where Willow should have been, but wasn’t. 

"Where’s Willow?" Buffy asked the room in general. 

"I think she is in Giles office, I will go and get her." Marissa said as she skimmed her hand along Spikes fingers, then she turned and headed toward Giles office. 

Opening the door she saw Willow spring up from Giles chair, "Willow, Buffy wants us to go over the protection spell again for her, are you coming?" 

"I’ll, ah . . . I’ll be right there, give me a minute ok." Willow said without facing Marissa. 

"All right, we will be waiting, hurry." Marissa turned back into the library. 

Willow looked down into Marissa’s journal one last time. She reached up and wiped away the tears that had fallen down her cheeks. She took a big breath and held it for a second. How was she going to walk back in that room and face Marissa, knowing what she knew? Knowing what Darius had done to her. She returned the book to Giles desk exactly as he had left it. Hoping that he didn’t notice if it was moved. Normal, was anything ever normal living on a Hellmouth. 

As she opened the door, she marveled again at the strength it had taken Marissa to survive being a prisoner for five years. Being locked away from everything you know and love. Locked away, tortured and starved for all those years. Willow didn’t think she could have survived. Not that. She knew she wasn’t as strong as Marissa. She would have given in. Surrendered. 

"Willow, Marissa said you found a spell, something that will help us?" Buffy asked. "So show us, amaze us with your talents." 

"I don’t have any talents, but there is a spell in the Wiccan’s Guide, that might be able to protect us against Darius’s magic." Willow said timidly. 

"Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat," Xander mimicked a favorite cartoon character of Willows. 

********************** 

Darius stood at the monitor, he shrewdly watched as the players all took their places in his little puppet show. 

"That’s funny, the little children think they can stop me by using magic. Well, what would they do if they found out I knew their little secrets as they came up with them?" 

"What are you going to do if they discover the cameras?" Diego asked. He didn’t like all this technology. It baffled him, he didn’t understand what watching their enemy on these little screens would give them. He preferred to just kill his enemies, then wonder what they were up too later. But he had been with Darius long enough to know that voicing your opinion didn’t get you anything except pain. 

Darius just smiled. "They do not even suspect that we can see and hear them. No, they don’t expect vampires to use these modern wonders. They never suspected the "janitor" doing a little work in their precious library earlier in the week. This slayer and watcher are used to dealing with stupid vampires, the kind that end up as little piles of dust along the way. They will never figure it out." 

"Unless you plan to betray me again?" Darius turned and caught Diego’s eyes, holding them with his cold stare. "You did it once, how do I know you’re not planning to doing it again? You can’t stand the thought of me being with her, can you Diego?" 

"Never, Master, I have learned my lesson, I would never betray you again." Diego dropped to his knees before his lover. He did hate the fact that Darius was trying to bring that bitch back into their fold. It drove him crazy to think that Darius preferred her to him. But after the punishment Darius had inflicted on him when he helped Marissa escaped, Diego would never do anything to bring that pain down upon himself again. 

Darius reached down and stroked the scars running along the smaller man’s face. "You remember don’t you, mon amoureux, the pain, the joyous pain. The scars are there to remind you of what can happen if you betray me again. Ah, mon petit, I know why you did it, I understand. But you have to understand she is the only one who can bring me my Gift. The only one who can help me achieve my greatness. I know you love me, I know you would die for me. And believe me, you will die if you ever betray me again. But always remember this, I am Master here. As long as you remember that, nous irons bien mon petit un." 

"Yes, My Lord, never again. Never." Diego nudged his cheek into Darius hand. Never again, no matter what happened. Not even his jealousies would let him forget the pain Darius had inflicted on him. He thought back to that night that Darius had found out what he had done. He had just wanted the girl gone. He knew if she was away from Darius everything would be fine again. Darius would return to his bed. He remembered the rage, the anger. Darius had been out of control when he found the girl’s cell empty, the girl gone. Stupidly Diego had thought that if Darius knew why he had done it, Darius would forgive him, he eventually had forgiven him. But only after holding Diego’s head down in a tub of holy water. Every night for years after, he had had to endure this same punishment over and over again. The constant torture had lead to the scars that would never fade, never heal ,never let Diego forget what would happen if he ever thought to betray his Master again. 

"Now go, find me something to break my fast. Find me a sweet kill." Darius pulled Diego to his feet and gave him a small push toward the door. "Maybe I will let you dine with me tonight. Just maybe." 

Diego rushed to do his Lords bidding. As the door closed behind him, Darius returned to the monitors. He listened to Marissa, Spike and the humans make plans. Plans that would never lead anywhere. Darius released a chuckle to himself. Oh yes, modern technology was a miracle. 

He watch Spike reach out and touch Marissa’s face. The rage almost boiled over in him. He decided then and there that Spike would die when this was over, first Druscilla then that scrawny boyfriend of her’s would be next. He’d make Marissa watch too, make her watch as he killed him. Yes that is what he would do, and he would enjoy it, immensely. 

Chapter XXIII 

"But if we use this spell, Willow has to be with us, in the same area as Darius, I do not think I like that idea." Marissa said. "I want her well away from him when this goes down." 

"Trust me, I can handle this, I can." Willow told the group. 

Buffy, Marissa, Giles, Angel, and Cordi were in the library, going over the plan one more time, Buffy wanted everyone to know exactly what was going to happen. So far everything was going smooth, everything except the plans for Willow and Marissa. Those two wanted to be part of the big picture, and everyone else wanted them protected. Xander and Oz were doing reconnaissance at the late Professor’s mansion. Willow was helping out one of the teachers, they expected her soon. Spike was still sleeping, as soon as the sun was down they knew he would be there. 

We’ll keep the spell in mind if nothing else can be done, how’s that?" Giles asked. 

"Alright, if we find nothing else, we use Willow’s spell, but she is never to be left anywhere near Darius, understood?" Marissa said. 

"We all agree on that. So then everyone agrees on using the bushes and trees as cover," Buffy said, "the Professor was a regular Tom Thumb, we can thank him for that." 

"Green thumb, not Tom Thumb." Giles smiled. 

"Whatever." Buffy said. "It will give us plenty of places to sneak up on them." 

"Yeah, hiding in the bushes, its what every hero does." Cordi said sarcastically. 

"First we hide, then we attack." Angel said. "Using the plans for the garage that Willow downloaded from the city planning office, I’ve drew up this map of the area." 

He placed a large heavy piece of cardboard onto a easel he had brought into the room earlier, it wouldn’t be missed in the art class till Monday so they had it for the weekend. 

"Wow, you drew this?" Buffy ask. 

"It’s great Angel." Willow gazed at the drawing. "This’ll come in handy, there’s a lot of changes that aren’t on the plans I stol..ah, downloaded." 

Marissa smiled as she moved in-front of the others, "Alright, down to business. Who is going in first, and where do you want the rest of us?" 

"Good try, but your not going anywhere." Buffy threw her a "we’ve been through this before" look. 

"I go in first, I want Angel going in through the back door, your job is to take out any vamps you meet. No one in, no one out." Buffy was in full slayer mode. "Xander and Oz are going to be stationed outside the front doors. If any do make it outside, they’ll have to dust them." "Giles and Spike with me on the inside. I figured we'd use the crossbow’s. Any objections?" 

Willow and Marissa crossed their arms, their faces showed what they thought of the plan. 

"Oh excuse me, remember us, the estrogen league?" Marissa said. "And what exactly are we doing, folding towels and boiling water?" 

"Yeah, I mean I think we’ve proved ourselves in the past. Why do we have to stay behind?" Willow couldn’t believe they were not being included in the plans. 

"Speak for yourself, I can find plenty of things to do back here at the homestead." Cordelia said sarcastically. "Widdle stakes, dust the books, anything as long as I’m not bait again." 

"You three will be in the van, if we need you, we’ll call you. We need someone to have the engine running, someone to drive the getaway van if this doesn’t work." Buffy said. 

"Or someone to call the coroner’s office." Cordi snapped 

"No ones calling the coroner’s office." Giles removed his glasses for the hundredth time and started whipping them with his handkerchief. 

Marissa was amazed that there was any glass left in the lens. "We can do more than keep the engine running. I can not believe you are not going to use my powers to help you?" 

Buffy really didn’t want to get into this conversation again. "Marissa, I know you want to help, but let’s face it, you turn to jello when your around Darius." Marissa started to protest, but Buffy cut her off. "I know you want to help, but I have to be able to count on you, and I can’t. Not with the lives of my friends. I’m sorry." 

"I have trained for almost 20 years for this. The Wiccan arts, the karate, the weapons training…." She trailed off when she realized this was not getting her anywhere. 

As Buffy turned back towards the map of the area Xander and Oz came through the library doors. 

"Well you can just forget Plan A." Xander said. 

"I don’t think we have a Plan B, do we?" Oz ask as he followed Xander into the room. 

Buffy turned towards the boys, "what are you talking about?" 

"Well it seems our guy Darius just doesn’t like all that green after all." Xander slumped down in a chair, he knew Buffy wasn’t going to be happy about his. "He plowed the south forty under today, black topped the whole freakin yard. Not a tree or bush in site." 

"Oh no, how are we going to work our way to the garage with nothing to hide behind?" Willow cried. 

"When did he have time to do this, I was just there yesterday?" Buffy ask no one in particular. She couldn’t believe this. This guy was too quick, too smart for her taste. 

"Overnight I’d say." Oz said. He took the chair facing the others. His job was to sit and wait until Buffy gave him orders, so he’d sit and wait. 

Buffy turned and ran her fingers through her blonde locks. "Ok, we can deal with this, just give me a little bit of time. We’ll figure something out. 

Spike turned the corner and headed towards the warehouse dock. He was late, he was supposed to pick-up his supply of blood at 9:00PM, he was thirty minutes late. He shouldn’t have taken the time to call Brother Luca in Canada to see if he had heard anything on his network system. It was a big waste of time, unfortunately he’d heard nothing. Or maybe that was a good thing. Spike just wanted this over with, he wanted Marissa safe. Thinking of Marissa’s safety was the number one priority in his life right now. As soon as this was all over he was gong to sit down with Marissa and they were going to talk. They had gone straight from shock at seeing each other again to hopping into bed, which wasn’t a bad thing on Spike’s side of things, but they needed to talk. Since the night they had made love they hadn’t talked much, they didn’t have much time to. Also, all this planning was working on his nerves, it was hard for Spike to customize his self to "planning", he was more the "attack and feed" type. But if it got rid of the threat from Darius, he was all for "planning". 

He approached the dock and noticed the light was off, no truck parked there either. "Shit, I missed him." Spike wondered what the hell he was going to do now. He shouldn’t have waited to restock, he should have purchased more blood as soon as he noticed how low he had gotten. Heading towards the school with a empty belly was not the smartest thing he could do, but what choice did he have. He needed to talk to Angel. Maybe he should think about getting himself one of those cellular phones like the rich chick, Cordelia had. Might come in handy. 

It might have been the new diet that has his senses so low key, or maybe it was from hanging with so many humans in the past few months, whatever it was he didn’t notice the four vampires until they were practically on top of him. 

"Well, look what we have here, Bozo the clown and his idiots." Spike faced the tall vampire who had stepped out in-front of him. "What do you want Cyrus. I’m in a hurry and your in my way." 

Cyrus just stood and looked at Spike for a few moments. In some ways this was hard for him to do. Spike had always been a good leader. He had kept them fed, kept them in-line, kept the slayer away from them. But he followed a new leader now, and he didn’t want to go back and face Darius if he didn’t do what he was told. 

"Somebody wants to see you Spike." Cyrus just stood and looked at him, waiting, knowing Spike he knew this was not going to be easy. 

"Well, have them call my secretary, make an appointment." Spike didn’t have time for this, he had to talk to Angel, his appetite couldn’t be put on hold forever. He turned to go around Cyrus. 

Cyrus blocked his way again. "I don’t think that’s an option. Darius wants to see you, well see you dead is more like it, but hey I just follow orders around here." 

"You used to follow my orders, remember?" Spike said, keeping an eye on the other three vamps at the same time. 

"That was before, before you betrayed us all. Your working for the humans now. Never would have believed it if I hadn’t have seen it with my own eyes." Cyrus couldn’t hide the irritation he felt. He would never had believed Spike had switched sides until he had seen it on the monitor screens that Darius kept. 

"Well, we all change. I got tired of hanging with losers all the time. Know what I mean." Spike grinned at the younger vampire. He saw the other three move into attack position. He threw his head back with a sigh, "I don’t need this shit Cyrus. Just tell Darius that you couldn’t find me ok." 

"It doesn’t work that way Spike, Darius knows all, he "sees" all." This last remark was made with a smirk. "He’d have my head, and I kinda like my head, know what I mean." 

Cyrus reached inside his jacket and withdrew the small handgun Darius had given him. If this didn’t work he was a dead man. He aimed it at Spike’s chest. 

"Oh come on, you’ve got to be kidding. Guns. You really think that gun is going to stop me?" Spike couldn’t believe this guys stupidity. Ok, enough was enough, he took a step towards Cyrus, trying to keep the other three in his side vision. 

"POP" 

The gun went off, before Spike could move something struck him in the middle of his chest. He looked down at the small feathered dart sticking out of him. "What the hell do you thin..what the hell was…" 

The dizziness came on all at once, his vision doubled and for the first time in a long time he felt hot. He stumbled to his knees, still trying to figure out what they hell was going on. The blackness engulfed him before he could make his mind work. 

Marrisa pulled up to the curb and put the car in park, she turned to Willow. "Try and get a good nights sleep, alright? We will see you tomorrow." 

"Don’t stay up all night on your computer ok, Will." Buffy said from the backseat. 

"I won’t I promise. I wonder why Spike didn’t show up tonight?" Willow ask as she stepped from the car. 

"He’ll show up tomorrow, don’t worry about it." Buffy took the front seat and closed the door. She smiled and said, "you know he can’t stand being away from Marissa for too long." 

"And we are not discussing this again." Marissa said as she put the car back in drive. "Get some sleep Willow. See you tomorrow." 

Willow watched as the car pulled away from the curb. She turned to walk up the front walk, the house was shrouded darkness, her mother had apparently forgot to leave the light on for her. Which was strange, her mom usually left it on for her whenever she was out late. 

What Willow couldn’t see from the walk was the broken glass that lay on the wooden porch, the pieces glittering in the soft glow of the moonlight. She moved up the walk, not noticing her surroundings, she was deep in thought, trying to figure out a way to help Marissa. She hadn’t known the vampire long, but she felt a closeness to her, not as close as Buffy or Xander, but a different kind of emotion came through when she thought of the young women. After reading the diary she had a deep need to help her, to make sure that Marissa never had to worry about Darius again. She moved up the small steps that lead up to the porch. So deep in thought, she never say the shape step out from behind the large white pillar that framed the porch steps. The hand closed around her mouth before she had a chance to scream. Something was placed over her mouth and nose, whatever it was it reminded Willow of the doctor’s office, it made her dizzy, lightheaded. And then nothing…. 

Chapter XXIV 

Spike had awoken about an hour before, no one had spoken to him, or even acted like he was there. Fine with him, he didn’t feel like talking to anyone at the moment. He had sat and berated himself for the entire hour. He couldn’t believe he had let that bastard Darius get him. Hell, it hadn’t even been Darius, he sent that punk Cyrus to get him, he had let a weasely little underling capture him. He knew where he was, he was inside the garage behind the professors house, the same garage that they had sat and planned how to get into for the last 2 weeks. 

Well, Spike had gotten himself in alright. Now the problem was getting out. He needed to get back to the library, to let Buffy know about the surveilence devices that Darius had somehow placed in the library. Everything that had been said or done was showcased on the monitors that Darius had set up. Everything that they had planned; fed right too Darius. Spike had told them that Darius was an expert, but even he hadn’t suspected this. He spied two unknown vampires watching the three monitors that sat about 10 feet in-front of him, he could see the images that appeared on the screens, the first monitor showed the stacks, winding down through them to the rear entrance, the second one was facing the entrance and the front desk, the last one was turned directly onto the table, the same table where all the research had taken place. Every word that had been said in that room had been piped right to the enemy. They had had no chance of surprising Darius, no chance of ever getting to him. He knew everything as soon as it was mapped out. 

He turned his attention to the rest of the garage, he scanned the rows of bookshelves that had been pushed up against the walls, you could still see the scrape marks on the floor that had been made moving the shelves across the dusty cement floor. The professor must have used the garage as a study. There were two rows of windows, 6 on the bottom about 3 feet from the floor, and 6 more about 12 feet from the floor, Spike had seen the plans of the building, what once had been two floors was now one large open space. Whoever had changed the interior had left the second story windows in-place. But the windows wouldn’t be any help now, they had been boarded up so that no sunlight could reach the inside. There were three entrances, but two of them had also been covered with boards, effectively blocking anyone from entering or existing through them. He turned to the only remaining exist just in time to see it thrown open. Three vampires entered, Cyrus and two other’s that Spike recognized from the mansion. One of them carried a body over his shoulder. 

Spike watched their burden into the garage. He couldn’t tell who it was yet, they had a thick wool blanket thrown over them. It wasn’t moving, but he could tell it was a women or a small boy, the hairs on the back of his neck stood out. Thinking that it might be Marissa under the blanket caused the ridges to rise up on his face. He pulled the chains holding his wrist together. No matter how hard he pulled, nothing happened. 

Cyrus walked behind Spike, Spike couldn’t see what he was doing, the area behind him was blocked off by dividers made out of cloth, the kind they used in office complex’s. He couldn’t see or hear anything behind the walls. Cyrus shoved another chair next to Spike’s. "We thought you might be lonely so we went out and got you somebody to pass the time with." Cyrus laughed at his own joke. Spike didn’t find it too funny. The image of ripping Cyrus’s head off flashed through Spike’s mind, Spike smiled at the thought. 

Cyrus noticed Spike pulling on the chains. "And you can forget about trying to break those chains, ain’t going to happen, those are Darius’s special toys. You can’t break’ em, believe me I’ve tried." 

The other two vampires dumped the body onto the chair, pulling the blanket off. Spike saw the red hair first. He realized in that moment that it wasn’t Marissa. Darius had grabbed Willow. It started making sense to Spike. The two people closest to Marissa. They were the cheese, if you can’t get to the mouse, bring the mouse to you. He knew Marissa would blame herself for this. He could take care of himself. Marissa knew that he wouldn’t give in, wouldn’t help Darius capture her. But Willow changed the rules of the game. For one, she was human, she couldn’t protect herself against any of them. Spike at least understood what he was dealing with, he was one of them after all. He knew how their minds worked. And it didn’t look good for Willow. He watched as they pulled the girl’s hands behind her back and snapped the chain cuffs in place. Willow moaned. 

"Oh for christ sake Cyrus, you really think Darius wants you bruising the bait?" Spike tried to reason with the other vampire the only way he knew how, by taunting him. "She’s a weak human, you really think the chains are necessary. What, are you afraid of the little chickie? Big bad demons, oh yeah" 

"Darius says chain her, I chain her." Cyrus pulled hard on the chains to make sure they were locked in place. Willow head flew back and she moaned louder. Spike watched as tears fell from the corner of her eyes. He watched as her eyes slowly opened. She gave herself a shake and turned towards Spike. 

"Where am I?" Willow ask him. 

Spike opened his mouth to answer her, but before he could another voice came out of the darkness behind them. 

"Welcome to my humble home Ms. Rosenberg, I don’t think we’ve been introduced." The same man that Willow had seen in the alley came around from behind her and stopped when he was facing her. "You must be Willow, I’ve heard a lot about you. You and your friends. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Darius. I’m a friend of Marissa’s. I could be your friend too" He said all of this with a gleam in his eye. If Willow hadn’t read Marissa’s diary, she might have believed the look in this man’s eyes. But she knew from Marissa’s writings that this man could smile like a angel and rip someones heart out at the same time. 

"I know who you are, I know all about you." Willow looked him directly in the eye and tried to act like she wasn’t terrified. "So you can just take your smoozy looks and your fancy clothes and just forget it. I know what you are, who you are, I know what you’ve done to Marissa. Your not her friend and your certainly not mine. I don’t have big evil demons for friends. Well, only Spike, but he’s not evil anymore." She turned to Spike. "Or else you wouldn’t have him in chains too." 

Spike sat and listened to Willow give her little speech. He was impressed. You could hear the fear in her voice, you could see the slight trembling of her lips. But he had to give her her due, she was tough, she didn’t want Darius to see that fear. 

Darius smiled. He liked this child, he liked her strength in the face of danger. The more he learned about Sunnydale’s slayer and all her friends the more he liked them. He had to kill them of course, but he still liked having a good strong enemy in the fight, it took away the boredom that attached itself to him more and more as the years went by. 

"Oh well, can’t say I didn’t try, being the gentleman I am, I had to make the effort you understand." Darius smiled at Willow, then he turned to Spike. 

"Now here’s a puzzle, Spike, Spike, Spike, you’re a demon, your not supposed to be helping the humans. You have made yourself personnal-non-grata in the vampire community. And not to mention you have really hurt Druscilla. It’s bad enough that you turned your back on all of us, but the women you love, tsk, tsk. You broke her heart you know. She doesn’t understand why you would do this." 

Spike knew the only way to handle Darius is to remain in control, and control was not one of Spike’s strong suits. "Druscilla doesn’t have a heart. Remember undead and all that. And since when do you care about Druscilla. I mean, lets get serious here Darius, Druscilla isn’t why you’re here. We both know that. She’s just a means to an end for you. And one thing I have learned about Druscilla over the years is not to underestimate her. Once she realizes your not really here to help her, well, lets just say, it ain’t going to be pretty. I don’t even think YOU could handle a pissed off Dru." 

"Your right, Druscilla is not why I am here." Darius told Cyrus to bring him a chair. He motioned to Cyrus to place the chair facing them, practically between them. As he sat down his thighs brushed both Spike and Willow’s legs. "We both know what I am here for. And we both know I get what I want. Marissa might have shared a past with you, but that past is over, its been over for a long time. I’ve watched the goings on in your little library, I know your not having a easy time of it, with Marissa or the humans. They just don’t trust you Spike. And why should they, we’re not like them, we’re stronger, more powerful, shall I say." He smiled, he raised one hand and slowly ran his palm up the inside of Willow calf, over her knee, he stopped when his fingertips slid under her skirt. "They ‘re here for our pleasure, we both know that. At least you used to partake of them, so how is that cow’s blood working out for you, not quite as satisfiying is it?" 

Willow raised her knee away from Darius’s hand but he followed her. His grip went from soft to bruising in less than a second. Willow moaned. Her eyes going from Darius to Spike. 

"And such fine pleasure they bring us. If you took the feeding away, their worthless, fearful creatures, not worth our time. We let them live at our whim." Darius stared into Willow’s eyes. He could smell her, smell the glorious innocence that radiated from her. "I understand your draw to this one, she reminds me of Marissa. When I first met Marissa she had such a innocence surrounding her. This one might make a fine toy, don’t you think." 

Spike forgot all about his promise to remain controlled. The ridges returned to his face, his eyes glowing a erie yellow. At first he thought it was his hatred of the man in front of him that was tearing his control away, but then he realized that Willow’s fear was feuling his hunger. He closed his eyes and concentrated on controlling the hunger. 

"Your hungry aren’t you? I can’t believe you’ve sunk so low. You disgust me, letting these humans control the demon inside you." Darius removed his hand from Willow’s leg, he moved around behind her, he ran his hands down her hair, turning his fingers beneath the locks and drawing it away from her neck. "Look at her Spike, so young, so vibrate, she has such an energy surrounding her. She’s strong this one, not as strong as the slayer, but she has her own strengths. Damn, you can smell it. He lowered his head, yanking her head to the side and inhaling her scent. Willow whimpered, she closed her eyes, expecting to feel his teeth sink into her neck at any moment. 

Spike threw everything he had into breaking the chains. He didn’t know if he was trying to get to Darius or to get to Willow. He could smell her, smell her fear mixed with the odor of her blood. 

Darius reached behind Willow and snapped the chains that were holding her wrist together. He pushed her to her knees in front of Spike, bearing her neck for the younger vampire. 

Spike stared at Willow’s neck. He watched her jugular, watched the blood moving through the vein, watched her chest rise and fall with each breath she took. All he had to do was lower his lips to her neck, one taste, that’s all, just one small taste. Without even thinking about it, he lowered his head. Marissa’s face flashed acrossed his mind, causing him to freeze. If he did this, if he fed from Willow, Marissa would never forgive him, never again look at him with love in her eyes. She would hate him. Eternally. 

"NO, damn you, I won’t do this. Spike closed his eyes and concentrated. Marissa’s name repeating itself over and over in his mind. Repeating it till he gained control of his demon once more. He opened his eyes and stared at Darius. "You can’t make me do this, I won’t." 

Darius pulled Willow to her knees, he pushed her toward Cyrus. "Chain her back up. It seems our friend Spike isn’t hungry enough yet. But he will be, sooner or later he will be." 

Cyrus returned Willow to her chain, he snapped the chains back in place. He too could smell the young girls fear. The thought flashed acrossed his mind that he could sample her if Spike didn’t want her. His feature’s changed and he grabbed her head, ready to bite into her neck. 

"Do it and you die." Darius never even looked at him. He stood with his back to them. Cyrus’s fangs retracted. He released the girl, he didn’t want to piss Darius off. He was no fool. 

"Don’t you have something to do Cyrus?" Darius still had not turned around. 

"What?" Cyrus was confused, he had done everything Darius had ask. 

Darius finally turned and looked at the other man. "Did you leave my little message at the school? Place it exactly as I told you." 

"I’m going to do that now, and I’ll put it exactly like you told me to, no problem. On the table, they’ll see it as soon as they walk through the door." Cyrus turned and motioned for the other two vampires to follow him. The three of them left the garage. 

part 7 

by bec 

Chapter XXV – 

Xander entered the school, he couldn’t believe he was spending another Saturday entrenched in the library. He thought back to his days before slaying, days spent sleeping in on the weekends, he wouldn’t get up till the sun was high in the sky. Days of eating cereal while still wearing his pajama’s. He wouldn’t even get dressed until his mother yelled at him three or four times first. Then he and Will would watch old movies together or play miniature golf. Those were the days. Well sorta the days. He never thought he would admit it, but hell, he enjoyed helping Buffy fight evil. He really got a kick out being on a winning team. It had came close a few times but they always managed to pull their butts out of the fire. Yeah, he enjoyed these days better than the old days, he had finally found a purpose for his life. But he did miss sleeping in on Saturday’s. 

He spotted Buffy and Giles ahead of him heading towards the library. 

"Why are we meeting at 7 a.m.? Couldn’t we go over all this stuff, say around 11’ish?" He yelled this statement down the hall. Both Buffy and Giles turned with the same tired looks on their faces. They watched the boy dragging himself towards them. 

"It’s the best time to plan, the big bad evil is sleeping at the moment, we have to be one step ahead of this guy. Darius isn’t like the two bit vamps we’ve been fighting." Buffy explained to him. She was used to Xander’s complaints. "No "stake em and brush em off" with this guy." 

Giles stepped through the library doors and held them open for Buffy and Xander. They all turned and walked toward the center of the room. Marissa was standing at the table. She hadn’t noticed them enter. 

"So it’s more research and planning, oh boy another fun filled day for us." Xander said with a grimace. 

"I was going to spar with Angel when he gets here, you want to stand in for him?" Buffy asked with a twinkle in her eye. She recalled the last time Xander had volunteered to spar with her, she had spent a week apologizing to him. 

"Don’t take this the wrong way Buff, but I pass, you have a tendency to over do it a bit, the last time I was your victim, I couldn’t walk straight for a week." Xander said. 

"What’s this?" Giles ask as he stepped up to the table next to Marissa. 

Marissa was holding a black leather coat that was strewn across the table, beside it lay a fuzzy purple bag, the kind that was popular with the teenage girls at the school. Buffy reached for the purple bag. It was the purse that Willow had carried the day before. She opened it and took out the wallet. 

"It’s Willow’s." They could barely hear Marissa’s voice. "And the coat is William’s. 

"I thought that was Spike’s coat?" Xander said. "It’s the only thing cool that guys got going for him. 

"They must have left them here last night." Giles said. 

"William was not here yesterday." Marissa reached out and stroked her hand over the purse, never releasing the trench coat. 

"How did they get he…" Buffy stopped. "Willow had her purse with her last night when we dropped her off, is she here?" 

"Darius has them." Marissa said calmly. She didn’t look up, she wrapped her arms around the leather coat, holding it to her chest, hugging it, smelling William’s scent. 

"What, what the hell did you just say?" Xander grabbed Marissa and turned her roughly to face him. "Willow just left her purse her yesterday that’s all, she’s safe and sound at home. There is no way that monster has her." 

"Xander calm down." Giles tried to pull the boys hand’s off of her, the vampire hadn’t even looked up at Xander when he grabbed her. She just stood there staring at the coat she held clutched to her chest. She didn’t even realized Xander had grabbed her, she was deep into the terror of realizing that William and Willow were at the mercy of Darius. A memory ran fleetingly through her mind, a memory from long ago, a distant memory of standing in front of Angelus and feeling the pounding of her heart. She could almost feel the blood rushing through her veins, the absolute terror of knowing that her world was ending. She knew it wasn’t real, her heart hadn’t beat in over a hundred years, her blood barely moved through her body now. Then the terror was replaced, replaced with a bone chilling anger. A anger that started deep in her long dead heart and grew until it was all she could feel, all she could think about. 

"It ends today." Marissa said, calmly and coldly. 

"What ends, what are you talking about?" Buffy couldn’t think straight, her mind was rushing at a thousand miles per hour, trying to think of some way to get her friend away from that asshole. 

Marissa finally looked up at the faces staring at her. "This game ends, this game that Darius thinks he’s in control of. It ends today, I am getting William and Willow back. And Darius dies tonight. 

"Buffy call Angel, tell him to meet me at Willie’s bar. Tell him to bring money, a lot of money." Marissa turned and walked towards the doors of the library, still carrying Spike’s trench coat. "Xander call Oz, have him pick Angel and I up at Willie’s at six tonight, 6 tonight, do you hear me?" 

"Aren’t we going to do anything, we have to get Willow out of there, now." Xander yelled at her retreating back. 

"Call him, call them now. Just do it." Marissa was almost to the doors when Buffy took off after her, she grabbed her by the arms and turned her to face her. 

"What are you doing, we don’t have time for this, we have to find a way to get Willow back. We don’t know what he’s done to her." The slayer was angry, angry that once again one of her friends was in danger because of her. "We don’t have time for this." 

"Trust me, just do what I tell you." Marissa spoke with complete control. Buffy had never seen her like this. Not even during the spell they used to cast out Angel’s demon. The slayer stepped back and looked into the vampires eyes. 

"You have a plan don’t you?" Buffy ask her. 

"Yes, I do not have time to go into now, just trust me. Please trust me on this." Marissa turned towards the doors again. "Do what I ask of you, make sure Oz is there to pick us up. And bring your weapons, as many as you can carry. Tonight this ends." 

************ 

Willow was scared, terrified really. She had placed her trust in her friends to always come to the rescue in the past. She wasn’t going to start second guessing herself today. They would be here. Soon, she hoped. She looked over at Spike, he seemed to be sleeping, she thought the sun must be up by now, that’s why he’s sleeping. She figured his body had no choice. But she was frightened and there was no way she would be able to sleep now. 

"Spike, are you awake?" 

Spike never stirred, he didn’t show any sign of hearing her. 

"Spike are you awake?" She spoke louder this time. 

"No." He didn’t turn to look up at the girl as he said this. 

Willow smiled. She heard the irritation in his voice. So he didn’t feel like talking, she didn’t feel like sleeping so she ignored it. 

"Are you ok?" She asked him. 

"Dandy, just wonderful." 

She heard the sarcasm clearly this time. 

"What do you think he’s going to do with us?" She already knew the answer but she just needed to make conversation, anything, just as long as she could hear his voice telling her she wasn’t alone. 

"Maybe a barbecue, one never knows with Darius, he’s not your everyday run of the mill vampire. He likes variety in his life. He also likes to play with his food first." Spike knew he wasn’t helping, but he had no control of what came out of his mouth. He was too used to using his sarcasm as a weapon. He realized this girl didn’t deserve it, but hell, he had never worried about hurting someone’s feelings before. 

"Buffy will be here soon, just hold on a little bit longer ok." Willow tried to assure him the best way she knew how. "I know your hungry and as soon as they get us out of here we’ll find you something to eat. I promise." 

The laughter that came from Spike surprised her. Then it irritated her. She realized she was out of her depth here, but hell, he didn’t have to laugh at her. But the next words out of Spikes mouth surprised her even more. 

"I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be taking this out on you. This is all my bloody fault." Spike continued berating himself. "I should have realized that Darius wasn’t the type to sit around and wait. I should have realized he’s make sure that Marissa came to him. He wouldn’t have waited for us to make our move. I should have been one step ahead of him." 

You don’t think that Buffy can save us? Darius isn’t any smarter than the Master was, she’ll come. I know she will. Willow tried to sound brave. She understood that most people thought of her as fragile, but she had learned in the past few years that she could handle a lot more than most people thought she could. 

"I know the Slayer will come. Hell, if I’ve learned anything in the last year its that you can’t underestimate Buffy Summers. She the best when it comes to Slayers. I’ve fought a lot of Slayers in my life, I’ve taken a few out. She’s the best. Just when you think you got her…WHAM…she’s right back in the game." Spike spoke honestly, hell he didn’t even realize what he was going to say until he opened his mouth. "But you got to understand something Red, Darius is not like any other vampire that she’s come up against. His mind isn’t twisted like the Master’s was. He thinks like a human, thinks like the human soldier he was. He thinks the entire plan out before executing it. And with those monitors he has set up, we never had a chance. He was one step ahead of us the entire time." 

"But if there is one way in here, Buffy will find it, right?" Willow ask. 

"Yeah, if anyone can the Slayer can, don’t worry, she’ll be here." Spike assured the girl. 

"Spike would you look at me please? I can’t keep talking to the side of your head." Willow pleaded with him. 

"You don’t want to see me little girl, trust me." Spike answered her. 

"Your still in your…well..your…grrrr face?" Willow didn’t know any other way to say it. 

"Grrrr face, yeah you could say that." Willow could hear the humor in his voice. She could also hear how tired he was. Being trapped with a bunch of vampires was bad enough but having the one "good guy" vampire on her side weak from hunger wasn’t a good thing either. If they had any hope of surviving this Spike had to be at his strongest. 

"Spike, when you eat, can you ah, well once you’ve started eating can you…well, can you stop?" Willow’s voice shook with uneasiness. 

"It doesn’t really matter now does it, Darius is not going to feed me, so its not important now is it?" Spike didn’t understand why Willow had ask him this. Then an idea came to his mind. "Wait one moment if your thinking what I think your thinking you can just damn well forget about it." 

As he spoke he felt something laid across his lap, he looked down and saw Willow’s leg laid across it. 

"If we’re going to get out of this, your going to have to feed. Darius isn’t going to feed you, you turned him down when he offered it. Now I’m offering it. Feed." Willow’s voice was filled with the unshed tears that were fighting to form in her eyes. "I trust you." 

"Well I bloody don’t trust myself, why should you." Spike turned and looked at her for the first time. His eyes glowed a eerie yellow, the ridges were prominent on his forehead. Willow’s glaze was drawn to the fangs protruding from his lips. "I’m not going to do this Willow." He turned away again. 

Willow raised her leg even higher. For one moment the thought that she was exposing herself to anyone that wanted to look flew across her mind. But she fought that thought down, if showing a bunch of vampires her underwear could help them then she didn’t care. She glanced around the room, no one seemed to be paying any attention to them. 

"I’m giving you my trust. Marissa would trust you, so do I." Willow said. Her leg was getting tired, she didn’t know how long she could hold it up. "Please Spike, just a little, just enough to give you some strength. When Buffy comes your going to need to be at your strongest, go ahead. I trust you." 

Spike glanced back at her leg, he could see the blood traveling through her veins, smell the blood rushing through her body. He turned and looked at the young girl again, she sat there with her eyes pressed tightly closed. He closed his, then slowly lowered his head. His fangs pressed against her calf right below her kneecap. He felt her tighten, he knew she was preparing herself for the pain. He felt the tips of his fangs break the skin, heard her moan. He felt the blood rush into his mouth. The sweet, salty taste filled his entire mouth, he swallowed. 

Willow felt her skin break, she felt his lips sucking on her leg. There was a brief flash of pain, then a feeling that was hard to describe. It reminded her of when her and Oz got carried away during their study sessions. The lightheadedness made her drop her head back. A small smiled formed on her lips. Her nipples hardened. She wanted Oz to touch her, touch her in places that no one had ever touched before, places she hadn’t even touched. She tried to wiggle against Oz, but she couldn’t move, couldn’t get him to take it any farther. She moaned in frustration. She could feel her panties getting damp. She felt so dizzy, if she could just get closer, just a little closer, maybe then Oz would touch her, touch her and take away this ache she felt deep in her womb. She moaned again. 

Spike was lost in the seduction of the feed. His mind was a black swirling cloud of heat and passion. It had been months since he fed off a human, months since he gave into the urge to suck until his victim was dry. Added to the fact that he had never tasted blood so fresh, so innocent before. It almost drove him over the edge. Almost. He heard a moan, he sucked harder. Then he heard the moan again. He opened his eyes, for a moment he didn’t know where he was. Then it all came back in one blinding moment of clarity, snapping his mind out of the black fog that had surrounded him. The mansion, the garage, Darius, Willow….oh shit…Willow. He withdrew his fangs. He threw his head back and spoke her name, his face changing back to the human façade he usually wore. 

"Willow?" 

"Dammit Willow answer me." For fleeting moment he thought she was dead. Then he watched as the girl raised her head, opened her eyes…. 

"Oz, why did you stop? Oz?" Willow’s eyesight cleared and she saw the monitors, then she turned her head and saw Spike. "Oh my God." She blushed furiously. She was so embarrassed, somehow during the time that Spike was feeding on her leg she had thought that Oz and her had…were… "OH MY GOD!" 

"Are you ok?" Spike ask her. He could have killed her, could have drained her dry. "Willow are you alright?" 

"Yeah, I’m fine. I’m perfectly fine, a little dizzy, but I’m fine." Now she was the one who couldn’t look him in the eye. She still couldn’t believe the erotic thoughts that had been moving through her head. "Is that what it’s like when your draining someone’s blood?" 

"Liked it did you?" Spike smiled, it had been along time since he was changed, but he could remember the euphoria that came over him as Druscilla drained his blood. He’d forgotten that she would also feel the erotic passion one felt during the feed. 

"It was interesting. From a purely research point of view." The redhead took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds. "Very interesting. How do you feel?" 

"I feel a lot better, how about you?" Spike ask her. He knew that if he had drained her dry he wouldn’t have to worry about Darius, his life would have meant nothing. Buffy would have dusted him in a second. Also he would have lost Marissa for good, she would never have forgiven him. 

  

Chapter XXVI – 

Marissa paced back and forth inside of Willie’s bar. It had been two hours, enough time for the little weasel to do what she had ask him. 

"Marissa please sit down, your gonna drive yourself crazy with this pacing." Angel said from the front booth he had parked himself in. He still wasn’t sure this plan would work, but hell, they didn’t have any other choice at this point. Darius kidnapping of Spike and Willow changed the rules of the game. 

"I can not sit. Why is it taking him so long? He should have been back an hour ago. He probably has no plans to do as we ask." She had stopped as she made this speech, then resumed pacing. "We gave him a lot of money, do you think he stole it? He probably has no plans to return." 

"We knew it would take some time to for him to find what you ask for. It’s not like you ask for something simple. You do realize what your planning is a little…unknown." Angel said to her. 

"I watched Darius do it many times. You just have to have control, and believe me I have plenty of that. Patience is a virtue that I have in abundance." 

She turned as the front door opened. Willie came in first, he was followed by three people. A small petite brunette dressed entirely in black, a young man dressed in a similar manner. The third person was much older, early or late 50’s, he was dressed in what appeared to be a theatrical costume. Marissa’s eyes flew open when she realized what he was dressed as. A vampire! The man was dressed in a flowing black cape and red ruby vest, he even had a large ruby hanging around his neck. She couldn’t believe it. My God, these people needed help, not what she had planned for them. Could she do this? 

Yes, she could, William and Willow’s lives depended on this. 

"Here ya go, just like ya ask for, can I have the rest of my money now?" The man named Willie directed his question towards Angel. The women vampire gave him the creeps. Something wasn’t right with her, and Willie didn’t want to know anymore than he already did. He’d just collect his money and scram. He did what Angel ask, he was out of it now. What happened to these poor slobs was none of his business. 

"You got what you wanted, three fresh feeds, can I have my money now?" Willie was getting more and more agitated as the women stood there staring at the three people he had collected for her. Hey, they knew the score, he’d been totally honest with them. After all he was a business man, it was just business. 

"Marissa, you still want to go through with this?" Angel held Willie’s money just out of reach from the man. 

"Yes, pay him, then get him out of here." Marissa looked at the three people as Willie snatched his money and existed through the door. "You understand what will happen here?" 

"Yes, oh yes, Willie told us." The women spoke, you could see the excitement in her eyes. She was actually looking forward to this Marissa realized. Alright she thought, lets get this over with. 

"Angel, please wait out front, I will meet you in a few moments, this will not take long." Marissa ask him. 

"Why, I’ll just stand back here…" Angel started to say, but Marissa never let him finish the statement. 

"No, I do not want you here. Please wait out side for me." Marissa’s voice was pleading. 

"Alright, I’ll be right outside if you need me." Angel moved to the doors, he turned and looked back once, then went through the doors. He stepped out into the sunshine, trying not to think of what was happening inside the bar. 

********************** 

"She’s not coming, she’s chickened out again." Xander peeked out the window of the van for the 300 time. "She’s doesn’t care about Willow or any of us. Why did we ever trust her, she’s a vampire for freaking sake. We’re crazy for trusting her." 

"Xander just shut up ok, I’m tired of hearing the same thing out of your mouth over and over again. Marissa will be here, she told us to meet her here at 6, it’s only a quarter till. Give her a chance ok." Cordelia didn’t exactly believe that Marissa was going to show up either, but she was sick and tired of hearing Xander’s whining. 

Buffy sat in the front seat of the van, they wore parked around the corner from Willie’s bar. Giles had gone to check on Angel and Marissa. Buffy checked her duffel bag again, crossbows, stakes, holy water, crosses. She had everything she needed, now if only Marissa would hurry up and let them in on the plan. She understood Xander’s anxieties, she knew he was worried about Willow. They were all worried about Will. And Marissa had frozen up the last time she had faced Darius. Could they trust her. 

Buffy looked up as Giles came around the corner, he opened the door and crawled into the van. "Angel is getting Marissa, they should be here any second now. As he finished this statement Buffy saw Angel and Marissa turn the corner. The minute the women vampire came around the corner Buffy knew something was up. She couldn’t quite name it but something was different about Marissa. She had a aura surrounding her. Buffy could almost feel the electricity in the air as the women crawled into the van. The rest of them must have felt it too. They all stared at Marissa as if they had never seen her before. 

"Marissa, have you cast a spell around yourself? Something to help with Darius?" Giles ask the women. 

"No, no spell, I just got myself an insurance policy. That is all." Marissa said calmly. "Is everyone ready?" 

"Ready for what?" Buffy ask. "And what insurance policy?" 

"I am going in first, I will distract Darius, you follow me in, and as soon as possible get Willow out of there." Marissa spoke calmly and clearly. "William should be able to take care of himself, if not you will have to help him too. But understand one thing, Darius is mine." 

"We’re just going to walk in and take Willow out of there?" Xander couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice. "And you don’t think that Darius’s henchman are going to try and stop us?" 

"They will try and stop us, but they will not be able too." Marissa told him. 

"And why not?" Xander ask. 

"Because I am going to zap them, I believe that is the word you used, is it not?" Marissa answered him. 

Buffy interrupted them. "Wait, let me get this straight, we’re walking right into Darius’s lair, you’re going to zap the lesser vamps, distract Darius, and our job is to release Willow and Spike? Did I get this right?" 

"Exactly." Marissa said with a smile. 

"Have you been sucking on druggies? What makes you think this is going to work?" Xander questioned her. 

"Because Darius does not expect it to. He thinks I am helpless, he thinks that I can not hurt him." Marissa said. 

"The same way Angelus didn’t think she had it in her to take him out." Angel spoke for the first time. 

"So we’re gonna surprise him, and before he realizes what’s happened, it’s over with? Is that it?" Oz asked from the drivers seat. 

"Darius expects us to spend a few days trying to figure out what’s happened to Willow and William, he will never expect us to attack tonight." Marissa said. "He does not think we can overtake him, he still thinks he is in control. 

"He is in control, he has Willow. What’s to stop him from killing her the minute he sees us?" Xander ask. 

"Me." Marissa said. "Oz, drive to the Burlington Way address, when we reached it, turn the lights off and park up the block." 

************ 

Druscilla stepped into the garage, she was tired of waiting in the house, she wanted to see what Darius was up to. Spike was the first thing she saw. She headed straight for him. 

"My Spikie, what has he done to you?" Dru slowly moved around Spike, not touching him, but circling him. She suddenly stopped and her bottom lip drooped. "I can feel that bitch all over you. You went back to her didn’t you, you betrayed me." 

"Dru, I’m really not in the mood to discuss anything with you right now, I mean come on faithfulness has never been your strong suit, so why should I bother with it." Spike refused to discuss Marissa with her, but being bound he wasn’t about to really piss her off. 

"But Angelus never meant anything to me, you know that. He’s my sire, if he called I had to go to him. You were in that chair, you couldn’t take care of me, you understand, don’t you?" She drew her fingernails down his chest, playing the poor lost lamb, but it wasn’t going to work this time. 

"Angelus is gone and what do you do? You call Darius, you really expect him to take care of you Dru? You really expect him to put you first. Darius used you, used you to get to me, he doesn’t care about you or your needs. He’s probably going to kill you Dru, as soon as this is over your useless to him." Spike tried to make her see the truth. But the truth was never Druscilla’s strong point. 

"He’s going to get rid of that bitch, kill her, then we can be together again, just you and me Spike, he promised me. Like it was before, just you and me." Druscilla turned and noticed Willow for the first time. The girl was trying to remain as still as possible, Druscilla’s attention was the last thing she wanted. 

"And you believed him didn’t you?" Spike tried to draw her attention away from Willow. "He doesn’t care about you Dru, not the way I did. He won’t allow us to be together, it’s not part of his plan. He plans to kill me, and you. He just wants Marissa, she’s the only one he’s interested in. If you want to be with me again Dru your going to have to find away to get me out of these chains. Then we can be together, that’s the only way. 

"Why is she here, and why are you in chains? I don’t understand, why would he put you in chains?" Dru looked lost for a moment, then she spun around and stared at the door. "I have to go, there coming, and she’s going to hurt them, hurt all of them." 

She turned and walked back towards the door. But she didn’t have a chance to open the door. It opened from the outside. Darius stood there, he didn’t’ look happy to see her there. The three vampires who were with him entered the room and went to various positions throughout the room. 

"Druscilla, I ask you to stay in the house didn’t I?" Darius took her hand and led her into the room. "Were you talking to Spike? What did you talk about my dear?" 

"Spike was lying to me, he thought I would help him, but it’s too late, I know that now, and he’s right. You were never going to help me, you don’t like me. You’d like me to just go away. So that is what I was going to do. Just go away, far away." Druscilla voice became more agitated as she spoke. She tried to draw away from Darius but he wouldn’t let her go. 

"Now why would I want you to go away, you’ve been a great help to me. You brought me here, brought me to my goals. Oh no Druscilla I must repay you for that." Darius knew how to charm and cajole to get what he wanted. He poured it on thick with Druscilla. "I’m planning a party for you when this is all done. Wouldn’t you like a party?" 

"No, I want to go, she’s coming and she’s planning a party of her own and I don’t want to be here." Druscilla tried to yank her hands out of Darius grip, she was starting to panic. Darius tried to hold on to her, but she finally pulled free and drew away from him. "I have to go, I have to go now. You can’t protect me, no one can." 

She turned and ran through the door into the night. 

"Should I go and get her boss?" Cyrus ask. 

"Let her go, where is she going to run, she has no money, no friends. No, our Druscilla we come back when she calms down." Darius turned and headed across the room to Spike and Willow. 

"Well, well, it seems you’ve regained a little color my friend, decided to partake after all." Darius said in a smug voice to Spike. "Couldn’t help yourself could you? I knew you didn’t have it in you." 

Darius turned to the vampire sitting at the monitors. "So Roger tell me, what are our friends up to now? Planning my downfall and the heroic rescue of their friends?" 

Roger answered slowly, he knew Darius wouldn’t like it, but he had no information for him. "Nothing, they haven’t been to the library all day, well not since they found the things you left for them this morning." 

"What did they say when they found them?" Darius wanted to know everything, every little thing that was said. 

"Well Marissa knew we had them, she told the rest of them to meet her at some place called Willie’s at 6pm, we checked it out, all we found were three humans, they were weak, disorientated, but they couldn’t help us, they had no ideal who Marissa or Angel were. Hell they weren’t even sure of their own names." Roger hoped this information made sense to Darius, because he couldn’t understand why they bothered. Just kill the humans, take Marissa and be done with it. All this planning and watching was boring him. 

Spike wondered what Marissa would need from Willie. Willie supplied vampires with information and places to hide, what would Marissa need with him. He leaned towards Willow and whispered. "Be ready, something is going down, Druscilla wanted out of here for some reason, she might be crazy but she’s never wrong, something is about to happen." 

"Darius" 

Everyone turned when they heard the female voice call Darius’s name. All eyes were locked on Marissa. She stood inside the doorway, just standing there. Spike noticed she was wearing his trench coat. And he also noticed how beautiful she looked standing there. If she was afraid she was concealing it. He couldn’t believe she had entered the lion’s den. If anything happened to her it was his fault. Once again he had let her down, failed her. 

Darius was the first to react. He smiled triumphantly and started walking towards her. "Marissa, I knew you would come, knew you wouldn’t let me down. You did the right thing, we can leave here now everything will work out, you’ll see my dear." 

"I had to come back, had to tell you what I found." Marissa moved toward Darius, they met in the middle of the room. They just stood inches away from each other, not touching, not moving. "I realize now why it did not work before. Why you did receive the gift." 

"You’ve found the answer, what is it?" Darius was so absorbed in what she was saying he didn’t see the slayer and her friends enter the building. 

But his minions did. Cyrus was the first to move, he moved swiftly to intercept the slayer. Before Buffy could move, before she could raise her crossbow, Marissa lifted her hand, a white light shot out of her fingers, the light surrounded Cyrus, if you blinked you would have missed it. The vampire was dust in seconds. Buffy couldn’t believe it. 

"She said she was going to zap em, she did." This came from Xander. 

Darius was impressed. He knew she had the power within her he had felt it when he first took her, but as far as he knew she had never developed them. He wasn’t scared, he knew her power wasn’t as strong as his. She was weak, her strengths came from a few spells she had read out of a book. Taking a weaker vampire like Cyrus out was nothing. Taking Darius out wouldn’t be so easy. He was confident he still held the upper hand. 

Marissa had never taken her eyes off of Darius, when he turned back to her she smiled. "You went about it wrong, you tried to take the gift, the gift must be given it can never be taken." 

"And are you willing to give it?" Darius smiled back at her. 

"Oh when the gift is ready it will be given freely and with love. Can you love Darius?" Marissa moved to the right of Darius, she ran her hands over his chest as she moved, he moved his head to watch her, but kept his body still. He didn’t understand her question, he waited to see what she would do next. 

"I do not think you have it in you to love do you? You have power, strength, might, but do you have the ability to love, the ability to put others before you. To give your life for them, I just do not see you capable of doing that, do you?" She turned again, this time trailing her right hand over his hip, around to his buttocks, slowly gliding her hand over the curves of his backside. 

For the first time in a very long time Darius found himself feeling emotions he hadn’t felt in hundreds of years, the small spark started in the pit of his stomach, an ache, it was so unfamiliar that at first he didn’t recognize it for what it was…sexual tension. It coiled in the deepest part of him and grew as he felt her hands trail over him. 

Spike sat and watched her touching the older vampire, he knew realistically that Marissa did not want Darius, but to watch her touching him, fondling him as she was, it was too much for him. He felt himself vamp out, heard the growl that emitted from his throat. Willow turned when she heard the sound. 

"Spike, don’t, you got to stay in control. For Marissa, you have to keep control of yourself." The young girl quietly pleaded with the vampire. 

Willow watched as Buffy and the rest of them slowly spread out, each moving into a circular position around the room. Darius attention was caught by Marissa but not the other four vampires. The turned to the humans and prepared to attack. Roger never saw Marissa raise her left hand, never saw the bright flash that ended his days as a demon. But the other demons had, they panicked, all trying to get to the door before they were dusted next. They were in such a hurry it was easy for Buffy to take one out with the crossbow. Giles got one with a stake to the chest. The remaining vampire almost made it to the door, unfortunately he didn’t see Cordelia’s foot, or the stake that Angel sent into his heart. The Xander reached Willow first. 

"You can’t break the chains, they have some kind of spell on them." Willow stated. 

"As long as Darius is still in control you can’t break them." Spike told him. 

Buffy wanted to use the crossbow and shoot a stake directly into Darius chest, she could do it, but she remembered Marissa’s words. "Darius is mine" she had said. Buffy would wait, she would be ready, but she would wait. All eyes turned towards the two vampires in the center of the room. 

Darius didn’t even realize that Marissa was controlling him, never heard her whisper the words that bound him to her. He couldn’t have taken his eyes off her if he wanted to. He was enthralled. The things he was feeling were unknown to him, a euphoria of sexual tensions and emotions running through his head and body. He closed his eyes and relished in it. It was the greatest feeling that he had felt in a very long time, greater than the feeling of the kill. Marissa stepped around to the front of him, running her fingers along his throat, she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled, the silk ripped down the front exposing his throat and chest to her. 

"That is your downfall Darius, the ability to love, if you can not love, your alone, and being alone is the greatest liability in the world. Having no one to share the gifts of this world is the greatest loss of all." She felt the emotions run through her, felt the anger, the pain, the loss, everything that this man had caused her. She let it sweep over her until it was the only thing that existed. She lowered her head and let it take control for the first time in her life. First she felt the ridges push out from her flesh, next she felt the fangs extend, running her tongue along them she raised her head and stared into the face of the man who had destroyed everything in her world. 

"Open your eyes Darius, I want you to see what you have made, I want you to see what you have done to me." Marissa cried out. 

Every eye in the room was on Marissa. Willow couldn’t see through the tears in her eyes. Buffy realized she was standing there with her mouth hanging open. Xander crouching beside Willow slowly straighten till he was standing. Cordelia took a step back away from the horror that was taking place in front of her. Giles pushed his glasses higher up onto the bridge of his nose. Oz stood and watched, no emotions on his face. Angel smiled slowly, you could barely hear the words pass his lips. "Yes". 

Spike stared at the woman he loved. He had never seen her more beautiful, more tantalizing, more seductive than she was at that moment. 

Darius opened his eyes and stared into the golden yellow orbs that were boring into his. He had never seen Marissa in full vampire mode before, he didn’t realize that no one had ever seen her like this, not even Spike. 

For the first time in her long life Marissa let the demon take control, in her mind she stood back and let the demon have it’s way. 

"Your ability to love died along time before the human in you did Darius, it is time to end this. You will never enjoy the one thing you love most in this world again. The Gift was never meant for you. We are not the couple in the Prophecy, you were too blind to see it. The Gift will only be given in love, something you could never understand. You will never hurt another ever again. Say hello to your maker for me. Enjoy your life in hell." 

Marissa felt her hand fist, felt her raise it, felt it slam into Darius chest, felt the skin give way. She pushed through the muscle, the dead lifeless organs until she came to the heart, she gripped it in the palm of her hand and pulled. She watched as Darius eyes bulged out of his head, heard him whisper an agonizing nooooooo….. 

He was dust before she opened her palm and let the lifeless bloody heart fall to the floor. 

Silence filled the garage. Everyone was afraid to move. 

No one had time to react to the small dark vampire that stepped out from behind the partition, he ran directly towards Marissa carrying a wooden stake above his head. Marissa looked up and saw him coming at her. She raised both her hands instinctively. All he knew was that she had killed the one thing he cared about in his life. She had killed his Master. The light hit Diego as he raced towards her. Every scrap of energy Marissa had left hit the vampire, he burst into flames. He fell to his knees in front of her. The flames extinguished themselves as he turned into dust, there was nothing left to burn. 

Spike reacted first, he pulled on the chains, they snapped apart like they were made of paper. He bolted out of the chair, raced across the room just in time to catch Marissa as she fell. 

He lowered her to the floor. "Ris, Ris answer me, damn it don’t you leave me now, you hear me, you will not die." 

"The world hears you William." Marissa smiled up at him. "I have no intentions on dying." 

She could see the rest of the faces as they came to stand over them. Willow still had the remains of the chains on her wrist, Buffy had cut threw them with the metal cutters they had brought with them. "Willow, I am so sorry this had to happen to you. It is all my fault. Can you forgive me?" 

The girl smiled, "This wasn’t your fault, it happens when you live over a Hellmouth, I’ve come to except it. You got to teach me that zappie thingie one day, it looks like it would come in real handy." 

"Can we go home now, I’m going to need a lot of sleep after tonight." Cordelia said. 

"Who can sleep after this, this was great, I’m gonna remember this for the rest of my life." Xander said. 

"Yeah, it’s been a red letter day all around today." Oz said. "We defeated the bad guys, saved Willow and Spike. And Marissa got to work the demons out of her head all in one day." 

Spike helped Marissa stand, he kept his arms around her, he didn’t think he would let go of her for along time. 

"I’m ready for a vacation, give me a vampire and a stake any day, that zapping stuff is a bit too much for me to handle." Buffy said as they started moving toward the doors. "Can I have the night off Giles? I think we’ve all earned a day of rest don’t you?" 

"Ah, yes, quite right, a day off wouldn’t hurt anyone. I don’t think that Sunnydale would collapse if we relaxed for a day or two." Giles picked up the black duffel bag Buffy had set on the ground outside the door. "I think I’m getting to old for this." 

"Oh come on Giles I got you by about 150 years, are you saying you can’t keep up with me?" Angel said jokingly. 

"We go home, you rest and tomorrow we talk, alright?" Spike told Marissa. 

"Resting and talking, I think I can handle that, as long as it is in that order." Marissa said. 

"Hey, Marissa do you think you can zap us up a pizza, I’m feeling kinda hungry?" Xander ask as they crawled into the van. 

"You can use the phone like everybody else boy." Marissa told him. 

You could hear the murmur of voices in the van as it drove off into the night, it would be along time before they came down from the effects of what they had witness tonight. But they were all safe and alive. So once again good had won over evil. 

The woman standing at the window of the mansion followed the van down the street until it was out of sight. 

"One day you will all pay for this. One day you will pay. ." But there was no one to hear Druscilla’s threats. 

  

Epilogue - 

5 years later 

Joyce Summer’s carried the tray of cheese and crackers to the coffee table, telling everyone to help themselves. She was in her glory. It was a glorious day and she wanted everything to be just right. 

The last five years had brought many changes to the group of people clustered in the house that Buffy Summers had grown up in. She hadn’t lived here for five years now. She and Angel had moved into a house not far from here when they had married. Willow and Oz lived close by, they had gotten an apartment together right after college a year ago. They hadn’t married, they didn’t know if they ever would, it wasn’t something they felt they needed to cement the love they shared. Willow owned her own shop downtown, The Boogedy Boogedy Shop, named by Xander during one of his lighter moments, Willow had liked it and used it. She sold various herbs and potions, she also had a line of holistic aids that she had just started to sell, business wasn’t booming but it gave her something she enjoyed. Oz had a music store on Main Street. He gave lessons on guitar and managed a small college band, they were better than Dingo’s Ate My Baby and were gathering a small following already. 

Xander had taken a job in one of Cordelia’s fathers factory, a small toy company. Xander had finally found his nitch in life, enjoyed it so much he was now a vice president. How many men got to play with toys for a living. Cordelia had tried her hand at modeling right after high school, but had gotten bored very quickly, she proposed to Xander one night at the Bronze and he had accepted. They had married a year after high school. Xander had taken night courses at Sunnydale U, got his degree and went right to work for Mr. Chase. Cordelia had surprised everybody by getting pregnant right after the wedding, motherhood agreed with her, they now had two boys Xander Jr. and Lance, Xander was not happy about the name, but Cordi insisted. But his pride and joy was Diane his 3 year old daughter, she was daddy’s little girl, and you couldn’t take your eyes off her, she was into everything. 

Giles had taken a job at the college, teaching a Myths and Legends course, he had also helped Angel get a degree and a job as teacher’s assistant in the history department. Buffy helped her mother at the Art Shop after Joyce had bought the business 4 years ago. Giles had been dating Leigh Smith a fellow teacher at the college for about a year now. He hadn’t told her about his extra activities yet, but he had informed Buffy that he was planning too, soon. 

Buffy was no longer the slayer, when she had turned 21 she had received a telegram from the Watcher’s Council that they would no longer be needing her services. That was it. No explanations nothing, not even a thank you. Just one simple telegram. They had sent another Slayer to Sunnydale about 3 months later. Her name was Barbara, she was 17 years old and a very quick learner and a by the book slayer. Giles had been informed of his new charge the day before she had arrived. It took Buffy almost a year to re-train her, but it paid off. Barbara worked for the Council but she was her own person. She could think for herself and could handle anything the Hellmouth threw at her. The gang helped her out as much as they could but strangely enough as soon as she had started at Sunnydale High School she had met new friends and three of them had actually ended up helping her with her duties as had the Scooby Gang years before. 

Marissa stood at the bassinet in the corner, looking down at the newest member of their group, Matthew Giles Summers lay sleeping. He’d had a busy morning, he had been baptized that morning. That is what this little get together was for. Celebrating the birth of Buffy and Angel’s son. No one had been more surprised than Angel at Buffy’s announcement of her pregnancy. After 3 years of marriage they hadn’t expect this little miracle. The mistakenly had believed that after everything that Angel’s body had been through that he couldn’t father children. They had been very happy that this had been proven wrong. Marissa had had to explain to them that this was the Prophecy working. Matthew had been their Gift for all the good they had done. It was God’s way of gifting them for everything that they had done. Buffy hadn’t wanted to believe that Angel and her were the ones in the Prophecy, but she would except this Gift no matter what. Matthew and Angel were her life and she thank God everyday for them. 

Marissa had stayed in Sunnydale helping Buffy and her friends keep the Hellmouth under control. After the night that Darius had been killed she had woken the next day and William and her had talked, talked for almost 6 hours. She made him promise that no matter what, they would be together, no matter what came along in their lives they would stay together and they had. Every so often William would get the urge to roam, but he always returned to her. They had also made a pact to never kill again. She knew that what she had ask of him was hard, there had been a few times where William’s demon was going to win out, but in the end William had kept that pact. He didn’t like the fact that he could never feed off anything living again, but he did it for Marissa, did it for the love they had. She wished William was here today, he had been gone for about 3 weeks now, off on one of his jaunts off to see the world, but she knew that soon he would return to her. 

Willow came up and stood next to her. "He’s beautiful isn’t he?" 

Marissa smiled. "One of the wonder’s of the world, there is nothing like a new life." 

"Oz is getting a bit crazy about this baby stuff, he keeps asking Cordi and Buffy all kinds of questions. I have a feeling that any day now he’s going to ask me to have a baby." Willow said. 

"And what will your answer be?" Marissa ask. 

"I don’t know yet, I’ll have to think about it." The redhead slowly stroked her hand over the baby’s head. "I’ve never really had this urge to do the baby thing. I love Xander’s kids, and I love being around Matthew, but I just don’t know." 

"You’ll know when the time is right, and if it never happens so what, having children is not meant for everyone." Marissa said. 

"Do you ever feel sad, you know not being able to have any?" Willow ask. 

"No, I have all of these children if I want to mother someone. Also being with William works out all my maternal instincts, he can be such a little boy sometimes." Marissa laughed. 

"Speaking of which, I was sent bearing a message. Someone is waiting for you outside." Willow grinned. 

"William’s outside, why did he not come in?" Marissa ask Willow. 

"He wants you to meet him in the backyard, you’ll have to ask him why?" Willow said with a smile. 

Marissa went through the house and out the kitchen door. She spied William standing by the picnic table. It was laid out for a picnic. Two candles burned brightly on a red and white checkered tablecloth. There was a bottle of wine, two glasses and a bowl of grapes. But what caught Marissa’s eye was the plate of cupcakes setting next to the grapes. She smiled and walked toward the table. 

"Someone has been busy." Marissa said cheerfully. She was overjoyed that William was home, plus he brought her favorite cakes with him. 

"Nothing is too good for my Ris. Picked these up on the way through Philadelphia, figured if you weren’t happy to see me, you’d be deliriously happy about the Tastykakes." Spike picked up the glasses and handed one to her. 

"Have you missed me?" He smiled back at her. "I’ve missed you, next time you come with me, do you hear me, I’m not leaving without you." 

"You know how I feel, I finally found a home, I am not leaving it." Marissa said with determination, he had never understood her reasons for not traveling with him. 

"I do understand that, and I’m not talking about leaving Sunnydale for good, just every once in awhile taking a little trip. I want to show you the world." Spike raised his glass and clinked it against hers. "To Paris?" 

Marissa smiled at him. It had been a long road but she had finally found her place in this world, no longer was she a misfit, a freak. She had friends, a home, and a man who loved her enough to come back to her. 

"To my Gift" Marissa said. "The Gift of Love." 

The End 


End file.
